


Some Like It Bot

by CardboarianNights



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: ABO- verse, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Sex, Can omnics take part in omegaverse?, Creampies, Heats and Ruts, M/M, Multi, Omnic Crisis Era, Omnic Racism, Platonic Relationships, analysing abo from a different pov, can omegas really be fine with a non-spectrum partner?, god programs becoming omnics becoming boyfriend material, lots of dynamic exploration, m/f/m- platonic, more importantly how will others react?, omega!gabe, omnic!jack, platonic rein/ana/gabe, slowish burn, strap ons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-20 07:42:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 42,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10657998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CardboarianNights/pseuds/CardboarianNights
Summary: In the world of alphas, betas, and omegas, can a relationship even be formed between an 'unorthodox' omnic and his omega strike commander while the world was at war against the god programs?Jack Morrison, that hopeful omnic, certainly hopes he has a chance for Gabriel Reyes' affection, even when he falls outside of the spectrum that society adheres to.





	1. AI like you

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write an A/B/O fic where one partner cannot participate like anyone else with a human body and have a love interest that was omega. Obviously this is not your standard A/B/O fic and everything on the spectrum is developed a bit more differently than usual.
> 
> Robots can love but can that love be reciprocated when the partner possibly has different expectations? or are their other more crucial factors involved?
> 
> Update 4/7/18- In the process of getting the timeline smoothed out along with consistency on how often gabe goes into heat (it's not once a month instead of three times a year. Not a super big change). let me know if i miss anything.

Jack Morrison is considered an omnic by others when they first meet but that couldn't be further from the truth. He stood at six feet and one inch at height, and had a massive torso that housed much more parts and equipment than other omnics who looked more homogenous than not. He appeared more similar built to a human athlete than a humble omnic: His shoulders holding four hidden pistons on each side that would vent out excess heat, arms and legs built from the ground up for combat, and a normal-looking omnic head but with the LEDs where his vision filtered through being shape like a bike visor with yellow lights instead of the standard blue. He was a one-of-a-kind mobile omnic built to keep up with the likes of SEP-injected humans like the man that Jack Morrison stood in line for.

Gabriel Reyes was the Strike Commander for the growing organization under his leadership. The Omnic Crisis was still in full swing but things seemed to grind to a halt when the commander goes into heat. Although he is an omega, the Strike Commander was practically worshipped amongst betas and alphas for how intoxicating both his personality and scent were. Everyone was HIS bitch regardless if they were alpha or not when it became relevant when he went into heat once a month. But for those like Jack, who were not regarded at all for not being human, it was hard to even be taken seriously by other competitors looking to lay with the commander for his heat.

Reyes rotated mates in order to not show preference for anyone. So, long as you could beat him in hand-to-hand combat then you were considered for one of the three slots to mate him through his three-day heat cycle. Jack wanted to so badly get a slot this time since he had various missions with the strike team as the only ‘omnic’ that could dive right into the heart of an omnium and not be corrupted by the influence of a god program. He was basically a substitution for Gabriel if the commander was needed on another mission at the same time due to being trained rigorously by the man himself to work as his equal. Only Jack thought of himself on-par with Gabriel and he kept his head down regardless as to not put anyone in an awkward position considering he was an ‘omnic’.

He knew the alphas in line were snarling at him, bearing their teeth while the betas simply ignored his presence like another other human being forced to put up with omnics in the compound. Jack did mostly stay out of sight, like omnics were expected to, even with commander Reyes firing anyone who tries to put the organization’s voluntary omnic presence ‘in their place’. It was especially painful when omegas harassed omnics since they weren’t exactly held in high regard either by society but continued claimed that having flesh was better than none then supporting them.

Jack didn’t fucking care, to be honest. He just wanted to fight the good fight and just relax with the core members of the strike team after the battles were over. Jack had no belonging place outside of the compound, even amongst omnics.

“What’s an omnic doing in line?” One of the newer betas asked, well aware that he was two feet behind Jack as they all stood outside of the training room, waiting for their turn to duel Reyes.

“Easy, Sport.” One of the alphas that knew better warned the beta. “This isn’t an omnic you wanna mess with.”

“What? Okay, let’s say that the omnic can compete. How is it fair that a buffed out robot gets to be considered when the rest of us have to actually train to get muscles like that? It can just lock its joints and outlast the commander! It’s a total joke if the omnic gets to compete!” The beta argued.

Jack was hard pressed to ignore that logic as he stepped up to the door after the alpha female in front of him went into the room. This was the problem about Jack wanting to act on his feelings since everyone else laughed at it being impossible for a ‘bot’ to have feelings or they were pissed because Jack had an obvious advantage over everyone else except for those smart enough to try to be smart when fighting an expert like the commander.

He booted up one of his harddrives that he used solely for archiving important memory recordings in times like this where he doubted himself and quickly loaded the file ‘r3m3mb3.arc’. Jack fast forwarded to the moment that always solidified Jack’s resolve that he was indeed in love with Gabriel Reyes, playing the file just to watch their interaction once more.

‘Designation?’ Gabriel Reyes asked as they both sat in the omnium, parts of it powering down in the background. The facility was being voluntarily taken offline after some negotiations with the strike team sent to help facilitate a peaceful resolution when the omnics living there were hard-pressed to leave.

‘Ares.’ He replied, watching as Reyes reached behind Jack’s view while assisting Torbjorn for a moment before looking back at him.

‘Alright.’ Gabriel replied to that before resting his hands on his knees in a casual manner and smiling. ‘Now, what would you LIKE to be called, Ares?’

Jack cut the feed right there, feeling a lot more confident after seeing that rare smile of Reyes’ once again before tapping out of that hard-drive when the door open. The female alpha was fuming as she stomped away, likely chastised by the commander during their bout like other novice alphas, before he stepped forward and entered the room by opening the door. He closed the door behind him gently before turning to look at the brightly lit training room and saw the wrestling mat laying out in the center of the floor while Ana and Reinhardt sat in their chairs on opposing sides of the mat as referees. Ana’s annoyed expression turned to that of delight as she spotted Jack approaching and waving at her in greeting.

“Oh! Look who it is!” Ana happily clapped her hands together, making Reinhardt turn in his chair to see who was approaching before smiling widely as well.

“Jack!” The currently armorless crusader practically shouted in delight as he got up from his comparingly tiny chair and rushed over to bring Jack into a bear hug. Jack ignored the warning alarms his automated systems blared out internally, knowing that he was in no risk of losing functionality to one of Reinhardt’s hugs as he struggled to physically reciprocate the gesture as well. “Finally! A competitor who might be able to cause the commander to actually break a sweat!”

“Ha!” Gabriel chuckled as he leaned back against the wall beside a tablet where there were several boxes filled with ice and water bottles along with an open first aid kit and some towels beside them. Jack took stock of Gabriel’s attire and admired the way he confidently exposed his bare chest to the world along with the gym shorts that hung low on his waist. There was not a drop of sweat on his freshly shaven head, and his hand wraps looked barely worn even though it was late in the afternoon a day before his heat would start. He was cocky as all hell today and it was the perfect attitude Jack needed Gabriel to be in. “I really hope you didn’t wait in line just so you could talk to me before I lock myself up, Jackie.” Gabriel teased as he took a sip from his water bottle.

Reinhardt put Jack back down on his feet and released him from his arms, Jack’s sensors finally shutting the hell up with the pressure reduction on his limbs. He patted Reinhardt on the shoulder with a synthetic chuckle coming from his vocal processor before walking over to Gabriel by the wall.

“I’m actually here to compete for your affection, Gabe.” Jack informed him, watching as Gabriel paused and put the cap back on the bottle while grinning in amusement.

“I think you have the wrong room, Jackie. There’s no competition for my affection going on here.” Gabriel answered easily as he assumed that Jack was just trying to shoot the breeze with him. Which would be the proper way of interpreting his advance if it were any other day but today.

Time for plan B since Gabriel wasn’t taking his direct approach seriously. “My bad. Should I switch my arms and legs into ‘organic training mode’ for our bout?” Jack tried instead as he gestured his thumb over his shoulder at the mat behind him.

Gabriel quirked a brow at that and looked at him in a skeptical manner. “Jack, you know I don’t mind training with you but today is kind of different.” He tried to explain, probably catching on that Jack might be serious but was allowing him an out to leave without making it awkward. He wasn’t saying ‘no’ though and Gabriel was always quick to say ‘no’ than leave something open for interpretation.

“I’m being serious, Gabe. I want…” Jack hesitated for a moment, afraid of the pain of rejection but then remembered the way he felt when he saw Gabriel smile two years ago. “I want to be your mate.” He spoke firmly, earning a scandalized gasp from Reinhardt.

Gabriel looked at Jack in a serious manner, eyes narrowed, and brows furrowed as he looked at Jack, regardless of how useless it was to try to read the static faceplate of an ‘omnic’, and crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn’t angry or disgusted, just analysing Jack and his posture even though there was no mistaking in what Jack meant by saying that. God, he looked so handsome, even with his lips flipped in the opposite direction that he wanted them to be in. Gabriel eventually sighed after a few moment, laxing his arms to his side before bringing a hand up to run over his smooth head and turning away while placing his other hand on his hip - clear signs that he was visibly conflicted…

“I’m not looking for a ‘mate’ mate, Jackie.” Gabriel answered honestly, still turned away from Jack as he crossed his arms back over his chest. 

“I know.”

“Well, that ‘seeking your affections’ comment from earlier along with asking to be my ‘mate’ seems to support otherwise, Jack.”

Well, this hurts a lot…

“Even still, I want a place in your bed even if it's solely for your benefit-”

“No.” Gabriel turned back towards Jack with his eyes narrowed. “I’m not looking for a mate and I’m not going to let you treat yourself like a sex toy so you can delude yourself into thinking we have something beyond friendship, Jackie. I’m not going to hurt my best friend like that.” He spoke firmly, crushing any hope of them- of- … FUCK! 

He fucked up so hard! 

His internal system warnings were all firing off faulty alarms ranging from ‘crushing pressure’ to his chest cavity and ‘severe loss of stabilization’ in his limbs when he was standing up and functioning perfectly fine. Jack felt drained even though his power core was at seventy percent charge and nodded his head before turning away from Gabriel. “You’re right, Gabe. I’m sorry I bothered you.”

“You’re not a bother, Jackie.” Gabriel quickly spoke. “I just… it can’t be you, alright?”

“Gabriel. What kind of answer is that to say?!” Ana scolded the commander with absolute rage in her eyes.

“It’s fine, Ana. He’s allowed to have his preference.” Jack spoke, sounding a lot more bitter than he wanted to as he walked off to the door and didn’t even try to close it ‘politely’ like he was expected, letting the heavy door bang shut without his help.

\--

‘Ares’.

Jack felt pathetic beyond reason as he adjusted his t-shirt and checked to make sure his camo fatigues were secured around his waist with a belt for the eighth time in the unisex washroom that was squeezed between the men's and women’s bath rooms. Omnics don’t need to use the bathroom but the unisex bathroom, one measly room with a toilet and a sink with a lock on the door, provided a small relief for Jack, if only a temporarily mental one.

Unlike true omnics, Jack was not originally encased in a body unit when he was started up, and as such had difficulty making sure that he was ‘decent’ by human standards. Sometimes he would feel like his surface level sensors were failing him because he would get uncomfortable with people and omnics staring at him rather than looking away or flat out ignoring him. He kept thinking that his shirt was untucked or his belt too loose or, help him, his pants had fallen too low on his waist to be socially acceptable. Torbjorn had assured him many times that the sensors were working as planned but he couldn’t shake the feeling of being exposed more than he already was.

The unisex bathroom allowed him the privacy to visually double check his outer appearance and reassure himself that everything was indeed in order. That he had nothing to be afraid of and it was just everyone else being more visually aware of him for no reason that was truly outside of normal parameters. No one could really figure out what was truly different about him except for the occasional omnic that did a double take of him before quickly walking off in the opposite direction of him if they had the luxury of doing so. Maybe all omnics understood subconsciously that they should be weary of him...

Reassuring anyone would just be him outing himself and would be too much trouble than it would be worth.

He was Jack Morrison and he was working with humanity as a soldier.

That was it.

Jack felt more confident as he turned away from the mirror and unlocked the door, stepping out into the hallway and gently closing the door behind himself. 

Gabriel’s first day of his heat was starting and Jack was a bit relieved to be able to walk the halls without fear of running into him after getting in the last word yesterday. He wasn’t sorry for expressing his hurt when Gabriel rejected him like that but would likely apologize anyways when they meet again for the sake of their friendship. Jack wouldn’t have this life he has now if it wasn’t for Gabriel extending the olive branch to him back at the omnium after all. Not everyone can have a fairytale romance.

He let one set of pistons pop out of both sides of his shoulders to let off a ‘sigh’ of warm air before they went back into their place, no longer stretching the material of his t-shirt awkwardly. Ana and Reinhardt would likely be assisting Gabriel with his heat for the three days, which left only Torbjorn for Jack to spend time with. Jack was still a bit jealous that some unknown asshole with a flesh body was going in Jack’s place but that was frustration he could channel into doing more productive things while he waited for his friends to come back to him. 

First thing to do was train or at least be seen trainning by others in a public environment to put other soldiers at ease about him being around them outside of training simulations for missions. The more they see Jack doing things like them, the more likely it will desensitize them to seeing him move about and work with them - hypothetically speaking since they will usually avoid training when he’s around.

Jack went into the firing range and checked out a pulse-rifle with several blank rounds, carrying them over to one of the open booths before setting them down on the counter. Another trainee moved up next to Jack, a revolver in hand with a stetson on top of head. 

“Howdy, Partner.” The man spoke in a friendly manner as he flicked the brim of his hat upwards with his fingers to regard Jack.

 

“Hello.” Jack responded after a moment, not really used to new people just sauntering up to him in the training range to pick a booth right next to him when several other options were available. He focused instead on loading his pulse rifle and making sure the sight’s function was able to be tapped into by his operating system through an incredibly short-ranged wifi router that would make it difficult for anyone practically not holding the gun to be able to mess with it. Athena started up the bots from where Jack left off, the slippery assholes moving in an almost unpredictable pattern since Athena liked the idea of making Jack’s targets ‘challenging’.

If Jack had a moveable mouth then he would smirk at her ability to keep things fresh for him since she was one of the few who truly understood what he goes through on some level.

His ‘visor’ led lights switch to red as Jack overrode his protocols accordingly for what was considered ‘acceptable’ amount of error allowance for training. He found it fun to try to predict against Athena trying to counter predict his shots and manually moving the bots like they were pieces on a chessboard while Jack used forced a handicap on himself.

“Woah, woah, woah!!” The newbie put his hands up at how ridiculous the bots spazzed about as Jack usually missed maybe one shot before getting the next one to hit its mark, trying to juke Athena with the occasion misdirected shot before lining up a headshot when the bot moved to dodge it. “What the hell’s goin’ on with the bots?!”

“Just a little high-tier game of chess between two nerds. Don’t worry too much about it.” Jack chuckled in amusement, hoping Athena would enjoy that playful jab at both of them and then bursted out laughing immediately after as she made all the bots spin frantically in place while aiming their guns at the ceiling.

“You shittin’ me? Someone is pittin’ the bots against ya like that?”

“Yep. Need to keep sharp against similar opponents. I’m not an expert at handling omnium dismantlement for nothing.” Jack practically grinned as he tooted his own horn, making it the perfect setup for Athena to pull out a curveball and literally make the bots strafe by aiming their guns at the floor to propel them aside enough to make Jack miss five shots. He paused at that, before glancing up at the ceiling where the security camera was pointed at him on purpose, Athena picking a choice moment to rub the salt in the wound. “Okay. I deserved that.” Jack admitted with a casual shrug of his shoulders, earning a chuckle from the cowboy next to him.

He was grinning ear to ear as he rested his hands on his hips. “Jeez, and everyone said to ‘watch out’ fer ya like ya were a rabid dog or somethin’. This is the exact opposite.” 

Jack definitely planned on archiving this conversation in his special memories harddrive because, wow, someone new is being NICE to him? How rare was this? Maybe he wouldn’t be too bored if the new guy wanted to stick around for a bit while the horn dogs did their horn dog thing without him. A gunshot went off and pulled Jack out of his head as he watched the gunslinger manage to blow off one of the bots’ heads with a well-aimed headshot before looking back at Jack with a lopsided grin.

“Mind if I join in on yer round up?”

They had a blast teaming up on Athena and trying to coordinate together to try to headshot as many bots as they could. The bearded man then introduced himself as Jesse McCree and Jack felt this was a start to a new friendship after he formally introduced himself as well. McCree often came looking for Jack regardless of the strange looks he would get from walking around with an ‘omnic’ even going so far as to drag him into the meal hall that evening. 

Jack wasn’t too comfortable sitting in the crowded room even when McCree was engaging him with stories from his wild youth with a motorcycle gang out in New Mexico before he was recruited into the strike team by the commander himself. Jack was only half-listening to the very interesting stories since the omnics sitting at the various tables with their human cohorts kept staring at him.

McCree stopped eating his tuna casserole at some point and took stock of what was distracting Jack before looking back over at him. “Somethin’ botherin’ ya?”

“Yes.”

Jesse quirked a brow at that before setting his fork and knife down. “Ya wanna talk about it?”

Jack paused at that for a moment before shaking his head and getting up. “I should probably go get my screws checked by the Engineering Department. Send me a message on the commlink network if you want to hang out again?” He asked, feeling relieved when he saw Jesse giving him a lopsided smile.

“Sure thing, Partner! Got plenty of ideas for later tonight!” He chuckled happily.

Jack felt an overwhelming joy at that promise. Maybe they would watch that show McCree was telling him about when they were shooting bots together? “See you.” He replied before turning to leave the meal hall.

Did someone outside of his circle of friends just ask him to hang out later? Jack waited until he was able to get some privacy in the unisex bathroom before running some diagnosis on his systems. Everything appeared to be running optimally and none of his sensory processors were malfunctioning… That means? It actually happened?! Jack felt one set of pistons on his shoulder shootout as he let out a short puff of steam from how excited he was. He needs to tell Gabriel! Ana and Reinhardt will want to hear too!

HE MADE A FRIEND!!

Jack was spewing out heat as he raced from the unisex bathroom to the main hallway and then bolted down to the dorm areas. He didn’t give a flying fuck if people were looking at him or were even fearful of his charge - HE MADE A FRIEND!

He came to a halt in front of Gabriel’s door in the dorm area and knocked excitedly on it after stretching his muscle fibers over his knuckles as to not damage the door. “Gabe! Aana! Reinhardt! I got great news!!” He announced, and almost flew backwards in surprise when Gabriel threw open the door, absolutely caked in sweat and his boxers haphazardly hanging from his waist like he threw them on in a hurry.

Gabriel was wide-eyed and borderline panicking as he inspected Jack with his eyes before actually touching him. “What happened?! Are you hurt?!” He asked in almost a delirious state as Reinhardt scrambled over, pulling up his sweat pants while he came over to the door.

Jack was taken back by that and threw up his hands to try to placate Gabriel’s concerns. “No, no! I said it was good news, Gabe!”

Gabriel sighed heavily in relief as he lightly shoved Jack. “What the hell, Jackie?” 

Reinhardt wasn’t as putoff by that clarification as Gabriel was when lightly patted the commander’s back. “Come now, Gabriel! It must be fantastic news if Jack felt like coming straight to us!” He then looked to Jack with a reassuring grin on his face. “Tell me, Jack! What is it that you wish to say?” 

Jack was beaming happily from that smile from Reinhardt. “I made a friend today!” He announced proudly. 

“Oof!” 

Gabe and Reinhardt quickly turned to see Ana fighting to get back on her feet as she fought with her nightgown and robe to make herself decent. Her straight black hair was braided and rather disheveled but Jack found her to be absolutely beautiful in that moment as she shoved Reinhardt over to make room for herself at the doorway.

“You made a friend?! Jack Morrison, that’s fantastic!” She happily spoke as she stepped forward and brought him into an affectionate hug for a moment before backing off. 

Gabriel rolled his eyes at that but managed to smile as he crossed his arms over his chest casually while he looked at Jack. “So, who’s the lucky person who felt brave enough to give everyone else the bird, Jackie?” It was just the first day of his heat so he wouldn’t be in that bad of a shape for conversation since Gabriel had told Jack that it was the second and third day he was barely functional on. Jack really did catch him at a good time then!

“Jesse McCree.” Jack happily responded to Gabriel’s inquiry. “We met at the shooting range. He willingly stood in the booth next to mine and was having a good time trying to mess with Athena’s bots with me.” He explained in an excited manner as his pistons continued to puff out small plumes of heat. “He’s quite the talented sharpshooter since he could keep up and even coordinate fake outs to help improve our headshot scores. I’m pretty sure Athena had fun with the challenge too.”

Ana seemed very pleased with that response as she smiled approvingly and Gabriel seemed a bit conflicted for a moment before nodding his head in agreement.

“He’s not a terrible influence.” Gabriel drew out playfully for Ana to follow up predictably with a light elbow to the commander’s side as they both grinned.

“Come off it, Gabriel. Admit that you picked him up because you thought he would have a good synergy with our group.” Ana teased before Reinhardt let out a hearty chuckle.

“Oh? Am I not allowed to meet the new face?”

Gabriel smiled as he sarcastically rolled his eyes. “You weren’t there when we picked him up, Lieutenant, and I’m pretty sure he just moved in onto the base today, so, it’s no surprise you haven’t met him yet.”

“Oh! I see!” Reinhardt replied with a laugh. “I must make sure to greet him and then invite him to dine with us to throw a welcome party!”

Gabriel groaned at that. “Think you can hold off for three days, Lieutenant?”

“Of course, Commander!”

Ana chuckled in amusement at Reinhardt’s enthusiasm before looking back over towards Jack as he seemed to be trying to peer around them to see into the room. “Something wrong, Jack?” She asked knowingly, probably remembering what happened yesterday.

Jack’s pistons snapped back down into place on his shoulders as he tensed up. “Uh… Was making sure there was no one sneaking up on you guys? Safety protocols and such!” He chuckled nervously with his synthetic voice.

“There’s no one else in the room but us, Jackie.” Gabriel spoke up as he seemed to avoid Jack’s gaze. 

“Huh?”

Gabriel sighed and looked a bit tense in the shoulders. “I skipped out on a third partner for this cycle. It’s probably not going to be a big deal, so, don’t worry about it.” He hand waved Jack’s concern.

Jack wasn’t exactly reassured by his weak logic. “I thought you take a third partner simply to lower the amount of alpha displaying during your heat cycle by allowing them the opportunity to fight for a spot.” He pointed out. 

“Yeah, but, the organization keeps getting bigger, Jackie, and the fact I now have to spend a whole day grappling with every hot blooded alpha and beta in the compound doesn’t really cut it anymore.” Gabriel explained. It sounded solid, in theory, but Gabriel didn’t seem too burdened by the whole thing when he walked into the room to challenge him. Jack wasn’t convinced that he didn’t have some direct influence on Gabriel’s plan to drop the ‘honorary mate’ slot.

“Right, cause it becomes a problem when an ‘omnic’ throws its towel into the ring.” Jack bitterly grumbled before turning away from them. “Well, that’s the news for the day. Have a nice time, you three.” He spoke happily to disguise his hurt and casually waved as he went to walk away but he felt a hand grab his shoulder.

“Jackie, we seriously need to talk about this whole thing.” Gabriel suddenly spoke up. Jack turned slightly to look over his shoulder at Gabriel to see how displeased he was with that quip Jack made before guilt visibly marred his face. “Just… come in for a moment, so, we don’t have to talk about this in the hall?” He asked, almost doing the equivalent of pleading to Jack?

“What’s there to talk about, Gabe?” Jack honestly replied to him. “You’re not interested and I still need time to get over it! Talking isn’t going to help me feel any better!”

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed as he looked down at the floor, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. “I never considered it before yesterday, alright?!” He practically growled in frustration but it was obviously not directed at Jack.

“You never considered what, Gabe?” Jack turned to face Gabriel fully as he too was frustrated by this situation and that Gabriel insisted on continuing to beat the dead horse. “Never thought that I could have feelings for you?” He practically laughed bitterly. “Omnics can process emotions too, Gabe, and we both know that I’m a bit more complex than an omnic.” 

Gabriel gritted his teeth at that as he looked up from the floor to Jack. “I know that, you fucking moron!” He huffed as he brought his hand up to grip the side of his head. “In the two years that we’ve know each other, I know fully well how unique you are and how that ostracizes you from both humans and omnics alike! I just never considered that you would have feelings like that towards me!” Gabriel explained the best as he could to Jack in the heat of the moment. 

“And? Your answer was still ‘no’, so, why are you so insistent on continuing this?” Jack grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest. “If you’re trying to convince me to not feel hurt then I’m not quite sure what kind of person I have mistaken you for all these years, Gabriel Reyes.”

“I’m still trying to figure out my feelings, alright?! You happy now?!” Gabriel confessed. “I fucking said it!”

Jack would be happy in any other circumstance to hear Gabriel say that he was giving Jack serious consideration but it was really poor timing with how heated up things were between them. He sighed as he let his arms drop to his sides, really not wanting to cause more trouble since it wasn’t worth ruining their friendship over all of this. “Look, Gabriel. Let’s just drop the whole thing. I’ll get over it, alright?” Jack offered as he held up his hands to try to show he was done arguing.

Gabriel looked hurt at that but he knew it was because Gabriel didn’t want to be the person to step on Jack’s heart. “I don’t think it's right for me not to consider you if it means this much to you, Jackie.” He admitted honestly.

Jack just dropped his hands to his sides and shrugged his shoulders. “It’s not going to make or break us, Gabe, that’s all I’m trying to say to you. I’m not going to stop being your friend over this, alright? I’ll always have your six.”

Gabriel was quiet for a few moments, deep in thought before looking at Jack with resolve in his eyes. “I’ll come find you when my heat is over and my head is clear, alright, Jackie?”

Jack wasn’t too keen on having Gabriel rejecting him again but nodded his head anyways just so he could leave and find somewhere to unwind from the stress he was under. He was forcibly overriding his piston functionality to keep them in place as to not give away how upset he really was and how it was affecting him. “Alright. Take care, you three.” Jack spoke as he waved his hand while turning to leave, hearing them say ‘goodbye’ in return.


	2. who i am

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy that you're all so excited for the story! Here's chapter two, as promised!

Two years ago at the Midwest Omnium…

 

Ares watched them through the security cameras as the fledgling strike team unloaded from the drop ship outside of the omnium. There were four figures in all; a tall man in full armor, a black-haired woman with a rifle in her arms, a short man with blonde hair that a curious prosthetic claw on his arm, and the man with the black beanie on his head wielding dual shotguns on his hip holsters - the one that took up the offer to assist with the omnium dismantlement. Radars detected several drop ships circling around in the distance, outside of the anti-aircraft guns’ range, if they were still online.

“The guns are offline.” The short blonde spoke ominously as he held up a device that scanned the intentionally lowered barrels of the omnium’s anti-aircraft batteries mounted about the perimeter of the omnium entrance.

“Obviously, since we had no trouble flying in, Torbjorn.” The woman chided the man as he looked up at her with an annoyed glare.

“There’s nothing stopping the guns from firing at us now if the whole thing was a setup!” He shot back. “Confirming that they’re offline from this distance is better than just assuming they are holding their fire for later when we bring in the rest of the dropships!”

“He has a point, Captain.” The armored man spoke as he rested the weight of his massive hammer on his his shoulder like it was nothing. “An omnium willingly being dismantled now is unheard of since any peaceful omnium went offline months ago.”

“Which makes my scans all the more important.” Torbjorn added on as the woman rolled her eyes.

She sighed before looking between them. “You think the commander would just willingly walk into an obvious trap? God programs are clever but very proud. While I don’t discount the idea that one may try to pull something underhanded like this, I’m sure the commander would actually have informed us of- Gabriel! Where are you going?!” She cut herself off as the commander started walking toward the open omnium entrance, shotguns still in their holsters, and approached a line of omnics channeling out slowly with boxes and bags filled with their possessions.

Ares switched to the closest security camera towards the approaching commander as the omnics tensed up in fear.

The man came to a halt and raised his hands in a calm manner towards the slowly growing crowd of dressed omnics. “My name is commander Gabriel Reyes.” He spoke in a loud and clear voice. “I was sent by the UN to assist your evacuation of your omnium. Under UN law, we will help provide transport to the nearest airport and will do our best to keep families together. Is there an omnic by the name of ‘Ares’ amongst you?” The man asked as he looked about the group while more omnics came out from the depth of the omnium.

“A-Ares…?” One of the omnics chuckled nervously. “There’s no ‘Ares’ in our omnium!” She insisted as the other omnics quickly nodded their heads and murmured in agreement.

Ares felt his processors heat up as the residents of the omnium tried to protect him, even when they were granted their freedom. He connected his audio playback feed to the speakers outside of the omnium, that were originally used to guide human transportation vehicles that used to come freely into their realm with no fear. “Thank you, but, the commander knows very well about my existence.” Ares spoke reassuringly to the crowd of omnics before turning his attention to the man in question. “Commander Reyes, it’s good to meet you in person.”

The man smirked in amusement at that as he looked up at one of the security cameras. “It’s not really ‘in person’ if you’re not here yourself, Ares.” He joked, drawing a chuckle from Ares in response. “Looks like you have everything squared away for a smooth shut down so far.” The commander spoke fondly as he gestured to the growing crowd of omnics at the entrance. “Anything change since we last talked?”

“No, our terms have not changed. The omnium will be relinquished to the UN, as we agreed.”

The commander nodded his head before reaching up to tap on his commlink in his ear. “Preparations are complete, all dropships are to touch down as scheduled. Over.” He spoke before taking his finger off the device, and watching with everyone else as the dropships circling in the distance started to come in for a landing, one by one, outside of the omnium entrance. Several aid workers came out of the ships with datapads at the ready, all of the omnium residences registered and ready to be checked off as they boarded their specified dropship after having their luggage scanned. 

The commander then handed over responsibility of the evacuation to his captain after the three of them rejoined him and then departed without her to head into the omnium itself for an inspection. The omnics were still coming out of the woodworks as the trio made their way through, the commander confident that they would be met with no trouble while the other two were much more weary of their surroundings the further they went into the omnium.

“Ares?” The commander asked randomly as the trio boarded one of the elevators, Ares overroding the elevator protocol to bring them straight down to the core of the omnium.

“Yes, Commander?”

“Why do you want this handover to happen?” He asked curiously, taking the men in the elevator with him by surprise along with Ares as he watched them through the security camera while the elevator began its descent.

Ares thought about it for a long moment before answering honestly. “We can’t stay neutral in the conflict anymore, Commander.” He answered with a heavy heart. “It’s either we fortify ourselves for battle and risk total dismantlement or hand over the omnium peacefully and hope for a better life for the omnics here.”

The commander nodded his head at that answer, finding it agreeable. “So, even god programs are capable of being self-sacrificing.” 

Ares chuckled pathetically at that. “I really don’t want to be brought offline but I’m not going to let the residents suffer if I can help it.” He admitted, glad that his vocal feedback line was only playing in the elevator than in the whole omnium for the others to hear as they were ushered away to safety.

The commander kept silent along with his two escorts, the elevator camera angles not allowing Ares to see their faces properly to gauge their reaction. When the elevator arrived to the basement floor, the doors opened and Ares switched the camera feed to the one mounted directly onto his fortified armor case that lined the wall to protect him. All the security in the room was manually shut down, including all the turrets and the Bastion units to allow them safe passage down the illuminated hallway that led straight to the bright blue core that Ares was directly plugged into deep inside the confines of the armor.

The commander showed no hesitation as he walked forward, the armored man right by his side with his hammer at the ready while Torbjorn was busy scanning anything and everything leading to the core. It was only when Torbjorn was finished with his scans that he rejoined the two that stood in front of the core and acknowledged that everything was offline that could possibly harm them before the commander spoke.

“Ares, under UN emergency protocol, you are to be dismantled and terminated like any other god program we encountered.” The commander formally announced to him as he looked straight at Ares through the camera mounted on his armored case. 

If programs were capable of taking a resigned breath, he would have done so. “Acknowledged. I will proceed to bring the omnium offline and allow you local access to do your job, Commander.”

Ares pulled up a holoscreen to show them all the details as he slowly started powering down the omnium starting with electronics and the like in the residential quarters first. While those programs were running, Ares overrode his security protocols for his sarcophagus, layers of electronic shields and physical barriers pulling away before finally exposing his black box server to the trio - his very core. Another holoscreen popped up for them as Ares remembered something important to tell the trio. “Here is a map on the emergency ladders and routes to regain access to the omnium entrance when you are finished here. That is, unless, you have supplies to power the elevators without access to the core for energy.”

The commander took out a small handheld device and it copied the documents on the hologram file being projected to them before tucking it away into his pocket. “Thank you, Ares.”

“It’s something I should have prepared for earlier. I’m sorry that you will have to navigate the omnium in the dark.”

The commander nodded his head but seemed conflicted.

“Thirty percent of the omnium is now offline.” Ares informed them, even though he was personally dreading the way his life was ticking away oh so smoothly. 

He was going offline.

He was going to die.

At least he won't be alone for this...?

“Commander Reyes?” Ares asked, drawing the man’s attention back to the security camera.

“Yes, Ares?”

Ares hesitated for a moment before figuring that he was dying anyways and had no need for pride anymore. 

“I’m afraid.”

The commander’s face twisted into an almost pained expression as he brought his hand up to cover the lower half of his face. He looked off to the side for a good few moments before hesitantly looking back at the camera. “You’re doing the right thing, Ares. I’m not going to let you suffer.” The commander reassured him.

“I know I did the right thing, but, I don’t want to go like this…”

“You’re too dangerous to be left alone.” The commander rationalized but was clearly fighting something that he wanted to say but duty would not permit.

Omnium offline progress: 50% complete

“Commander?” The armored man spoke as he set down his hammer in the background and drew the man’s attention before the commander then walked over to him then the trio began speaking in hushed whispers to each other.

Omnium offline progress: 60% complete

Ares was starting to feel everything shutting down as he gradually lost more and more control of the omnium as it went offline. It was like his arms and hands were going cold and numb, he was willingly condemning himself to a death he did not want in the slightest. The trio were intensely arguing but Ares was too occupied in watching the minutes to his termination counting down.

The pathway to Hell really was paved with good intentions…

Omnium offline progress: 70% complete

“FINE!” Torbjorn suddenly shouted in exasperation before running off to one of the offline Bastion units while the commander turned to walk back over to the security camera.

Omnium offline progress: 85% complete

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before speaking to Ares. 

“Ares, you have been nothing but cooperative for months leading up to this evacuation and even now you continue to live up to your promise of a peaceful shut down of your omnium.” Commander Reyes started. “It has come to my attention that our team could use a god program with omnium experience, assuming that you are willing to comply with all restrictions placed on you and help us take down hostile god programs in return.”

“I’ll do it.” Ares answered with no hint of hesitation whatsoever.

\--

Present: Day Two Of Gabriel Reyes’ Heat

Gabriel was a whimpering and flushed mess on his hands and knees as Ana thrusted her hips forward, a strap-on fucking the omega's messy asshole first thing in the morning after Gabriel woke up. Reinhardt had already showered and fled the room to go bring back breakfast for the group while Ana kept Gabriel preoccupied even though she wanted a shower as well.

“You have no qualms with an artificial erection pushed inside of you, Gabriel.” She starts as she kept her pace decent as to try to edge him for as long as they both could tolerate it, hoping that Reinhardt will be back before she gets him to cum. “Jack would be no different than myself pleasuring you in this pillow nest of yours.” Ana teased Gabriel, enjoying the frustrated growl that came from the commander in response.

“Ngh- Stop talking about him, Ana!” He demanded as he pushed back against Amari the next time she thrusted forward, earning himself a hard smack on the ass that had him staggering forward from how overstimulated he felt already. 

“It would be easy to put an artificial penis on him, if that is what your body is trying to convince you otherwise.” Ana firmly spoke as she rubbed the spot on his ass where she swatted him. Gabriel shuddered and sucked in a breath through his lips as he tried to resist moaning so early into a session. “There are even variation that are able to form a knot and stimulation an ejaculation...”

Gabriel narrowed his eyes and dragged a pillow to hug under his chin as his heavy cock leaked precum onto the sheets before Ana dragged his hips upward so his ass was more prominently in the air for her. “He’s not your best friend, Ana! There’s a difference!”

“Hush.” She chided him as she pulled his ass back into her, encouraging Gabriel to ride her cock for a bit while her hand on his lower back controlled the pacing. “I see the way you struggle to find the words when it comes to your personal relationships, especially in regards to Jack.”

Gabriel let out a shaky breath as he felt the bumpy surface of the dildo brush over his prostate and pull at his puffy anus. Ana was using sex against him to make him talk about feelings he was still trying to sort out internally, and it was pretty shitty of her to do. Though he had to admit it was a clever sort of shitty behavior he would probably pull as well but definitely not during someone’s fucking heat! 

“I can barely think straight, Amari, this is pointless small talk!” He huffed as he let her guide him back against the textured surface again, feeling his eyes roll to the back of his heat from how good it felt. She was a demon but, lord, did she know how to work him over in a frustrating manner.

“Maybe to a degree but I wouldn't be surprised if you fancied the idea of being under him, Gabrie-”

“Less talking and more thrusting! I’m under enough duress as it is!” Gabriel growled impatiently. Ana just rolled her eyes in a light-hearted manner before bucking her hips forward sharply and drawing a strangle gasp from Gabriel as he pushed his face into the pillow, unable to rut against the mattress like he wished he could.

Jack was always on his mind. Always. But, that didn't mean that he could just act in haste and accept his feelings without being one hundred percent clear that he wanted Jack the same way. After everything that he took from Jack and his constant struggles in a human-dominated world, Gabe didn't think he could afford to lose Jack’s trust if things didn't work out. It was that sobering thought that managed to drag Gabriel out of the hormonal haze and slap him in the face like an ice cold bucket of water on a fire.

Gabriel hoped he was doing okay after their fight yesterday…

 

\--

Jesse McCree ended up living up to his promise the night before and they ended up marathoning a whole season of the cartoon show that the cowboy loved to pieces in his dorm room. Jack didn’t mind it since he ran off a Tobestein core that could keep him powered for a week straight with no recharge but McCree certainly wasn’t ready to get out of bed when his alarm went off. He groaned as he slapped the thing into sleep mode, Jack watching another series on Jesse’s hard drive since he wouldn’t attend breakfast if it was solely going to be Torbjorn showing up at their meeting spot.

He was rather tempted to just let McCree do as he pleased while he watched his comedy show on Jesse’s laptop until the cowboy hit the snooze button for the fourth time in a row. At that point, Jack figured it was actually worse to let McCree’s sleep cycle to keep hitting the alarm every five minutes and closed the screen before getting up on his feet.

“Wake up, Jesse, studies prove that ‘five more minutes’ do not garner positive results when it comes to feeling more restful when getting up.” Jack informs Jesse before stepping aside to dodge the pillow tossed at him in a lazy manner by the groaning cowboy.

“Yer worse than a damn infomercial, ya know that, Jack?” Jesse growled lightly before absent-mindedly feeling around on the bed for the pillow he unknowingly threw at Jack before letting out a frustrated whine. The alarm clock didn't fair much better after it had the poor timing to go off right as Jesse plopped his face back into the mattress to doze off again and shoved off the nightstand for all of its troubles, clattering to the floor as it continue to buzz.

Jack was unamused with the blatant disrespect of the organization’s property but shrugged it off as he walked over to where the panicking alarm clock laid and picked it up, turning the alarm off before placing it back on the nightstand. “Seriously. Wake up.” He warned the sharpshooter as he looked down at him trying vainly to get in more sleep.

“What’re ya, mah Ma?” 

Jack pondered at his options for a moment before shrugging his shoulder. “Good point. See you later, Jesse.” He spoke with no guilt whatsoever as he headed to the door and opened it, leaving Jesse to sleep and deal with the consequences alone before shutting the door behind him.

Most of the other humans were already up or at least getting dressed at this point to head to the meal hall as Jack headed over to his room several doors down. Ana’s room was right next to his own with Reinhardt’s right across the hall but knew that the two wouldn't be coming out of there since they were in the other wing in Gabriel's room. He slid his key card into the slot by the door, watching the light switch from red to green as the door slid open for him and he headed into the dark depths. The doors closed behind him and he flipped the light switch to illuminate the windowless room that had a couch and a desk as the only furnishings outside of his charging stand. It was all he really needed since he could access the internet instantly without a device and just sit on the couch if he needed to burn an hour. 

He walked over to the couch and plopped down on the soft cushions, laying out over the length of it as he got situated, adjusting the pillow behind his back so he could lay on it more comfortably. Jack then folded his arms over his chest as he set an internal alarm to wake him up in thirty minutes, leaving him with enough time to go to the simulation room to practice omnium assaults with his squadron. His vision then dimmed to complete darkness as he let himself enter ‘sleep’ mode, letting background maintenance programs that could finish their tasks in thirty minutes run. It was as close to a ‘nap’ as he was going to get but one all-nighter wouldn't cause much problems if Jack had gaps in time like this one to ‘unwind’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you are enjoying the story, please leave your thoughts and comments! I read and answer all reviews I receive!


	3. The Art of War can take a back seat

Two Years Ago, Zurich HQ

 

Ares, no, Jack followed Gabriel out of the dropship after the rest of the strike team disembarked before them. He had never been in a portable or even MOBILE unit before but Torbjorn was very helpful on helping him write the necessary scripts in reference to him moving the Bastion unit’s body parts locally rather than remotely like when he was in the omnium core. Jack’s black box wasn’t too difficult to place into the Bastion’s chest compartment after Torbjorn tore out the remains from one of the Bastion units Jack had put down, along with the rest of his self-defense armaments in the basement, two days before the strike team arrived. Their omnium wasn’t at risk of being attacked by other omniums and was too far away from any military bases or cities to concern the nearby-human/omnic population.

Hell, his original plan was to hand over the omnium and the farm lands they maintained to anyone who wanted the land before he quickly reconsidered the repercussions of that plan by other omniums. The last thing he needed was for anyone to think he was siding with humanity or with the rogue omniums. Hense, why he contacted the commander, through various omnic sympathizers he could trust, and started the process to prove that he was true to his words over the course of several months before Reyes finally came to help the omnium.

Jack stuck close to the commander’s back, the man pausing occationally on the air strip when the unit took a fall since Jack was still refining the movement algorithms of this clunky bot. He really wanted to just leave it in tank mode and drive it around on its treads but the proposal was immediately shot down by the commander and the others while he was learning how to walk the bipedal limbs in the dropship while they headed back to Zurich. They knew people at the base would be scared enough of a bastion unit walking around but panic was MUCH more likely if Jack got around the base in tank mode.

The bastion unit had no right arm, the gun completely removed along with any forms of ammunition to lower the weight of the shell and make room for any other parts that Torbjorn wanted to bring with from the omnium as they left. Yes, the irony of being a walking shopping cart was not lost on Jack but he didn’t complain since they were going to spare his life and possibly let him aid humanity and omnics alike. This didn’t reassure many of the security staff on the asphalt as they turned their guns and turrets in the direction of Jack and the commander.

“Guns down!” The commander ordered at the top of his lungs. “You think any of us would be alive enough to walk out of the dropship if this was a hostile bastion?!

Apparently that was all the explanation they needed to lower their guns and watch as their commander walked with his chest and head held upwards, a bastion unit following after him obediently into the compound.

\--

Present Day, Thirty Minutes After Jack Went Into Sleep Mode

 

Jack booted back up after his internal alarms went off. The first thing he did was analyse the results of those tests and background programs after shutting off the alarm. Two new memories were saved and put into the special memory harddrive, something Jack personally found exciting before checking the other results to make sure everything was running optimally. He was probably going to need to defrag tonight from the data results, but, other than that, everything looked to be in tip-top shape!

He got up from the couch and let one piston pop out to vent a small puff of warm air before snapping it back in place. Jack then walked over to where he had his washed clothing folded stacked in bags that were separated by shirts and pants since that was all he needed to be sociably presentable. He got down on his knees and carefully untwisted the ties holding the shirt bag closed and pulled out a black tank top from the pile before carefully pressing all the air out of the back and tying the twistie tie back onto the neck of the bag. Jack then pulled out a forest green pair of camo pants from the pants bag and resealed it the same way he did with the shirt bag.

He then proceeded to strip off the white T-shirt and his pants, tossing them into the hamper before pausing as he looked down at his pelvis region. Jack never had the same… ‘equipment’ of other male-identifying humans and was even reassured that he was still who he wanted to be regardless of lack genitalia, but, it made him more aware that he wasn't ‘built’ to be included in certain very important (depending on who you asked) rituals, especially when the object of his affection was an omega that everyone desired. 

Jack had researched the topic of omega spectrum many times since he learned that it was apparently very important to know what it entails and how it affects human relationships. There weren't many scientific studies done on omnic relationship with those on the spectrum since… well… no one really assumed that omnics were capable of such a wide range of emotions like humans until recently. The on-going Omnic Crisis was about omnics being seen as equal to humans but it took a violent turn for the worst when god programs forcefully overrode nearby omnic’s freewill to make them soldiers to carry out their vision, whatever that might be. Usually it was genocide and that was something Jack would not tolerate as a god program who valued the happiness of his flock at the omnium. It was why he willingly went to cull those who once saw him as a ‘brother’, as laughable as that was.

He shook his head slowly as he went to put on his new clothing for the day and logged the ‘research pelvic add-ons’ onto his low priority list. Jack got paid for his job like any other human and had quite the savings in his account since his needs were significantly less than a normal human. He might be able to afford a satisfactory add-on that could assist an omega partner’s needs but that was a huge expense for something he might not need at all if Gabriel rejects him. Putting all of his eggs in one basket was just asking for more trouble.

After checking himself in the full-sized mirror to make sure his shirt and pants were firmly tucked in where they needed to be in his pants and boots, Jack headed for the door. He had fifteen minutes before the battle simulation would begin and he definitely didn't want to be late for that as he closed the door behind him to head off to the ‘war’ building beside the main one for their headquarters.

\--

Jack was built and trained for war. To be a super soldier’s equal on humanity's side.

He was also very good at knowing when to hold back and help guide others in battle simulations rather than steam rolling them at full-strength like he would at an actual omnium. One super soldier was worth more alive AND working with his team to help them be at their best than carrying them to victory before throwing the mission and lives away if he could not do it all alone. Gabriel hammered that into Jack’s head hard and he was thankful for the man for grounding him in reality when he got lost in his head at times. Human errors were difficult to predict so it was better to helping reduce them in a safe environment then not.

“Morrison! We’re being pinned down in sector three by sniper fire!” Jesse pinged Jack on his internal commlink as gunfire filled the building where he and half of his unit were trying to fight their way up an apartment building against high level bots. 

The simulation room was enormous and could project realistic holograms and environmental conditions such as fires and rain fall to further immerse them in the fight. Right now it was a metropolitan battlefield in a city-setting filled with fires and debris to make passage difficult. Athena could drop plenty of shit from the ceiling and under their feet to simulate an explosion or glass falling on them should one of the prop ‘buildings’ get damaged. It was all highly sophisticated and elaborate tech that made Jack jealous that she got to toy around with it while he was just a gun on the ground. Luckily, there were plenty of safety devices hidden about to prevent severe or even fatal injury since everyone wore a vest that kept track of their ‘health’. Fall to ‘0’ from the initial ‘100’ and you’re pulled from the simulation.

Jack split his squad up early to cover more ground since the goal was to find Jack’s old bastion body that was repurposed into an advanced training bot to better prepare troops against bastions. Jesse took one half of the squad to go north while Jack took his half to go south, even though McCree probably would be more focused on stuffing energy bars down his throat since he skipped breakfast to sleep in. Hell, maybe making a sleep deprived guy who joined onto the strike team yesterday wasn't one of the smartest decisions Jack ever made but this was a simulation and McCree was eager to try since no one else in his group wanted to be squad leader today.

“We’re heading up to the roof, McCree! Try to pick off whatever bastards on the roof above us with Sanders!” Jack ordered before switching the channel to his team’s since the tight space in the hallway made the roar of guns harder to hear anyone not yelling directly in your ear. “Heinz and Lyons!” The two soldiers turned towards Jack as the three of them were ducked behind a corner while two bots were at the end of the hallway with pulse rifles, like the one Jack preferred.

“Sir!!” They both spoke in unison.

“Both bots are hiding behind a concrete barricade that’s at least three feet wide and spans the entire length of hallway. There’s two apartments we can duck into and try to utilize to push our advance, but, we know better than to think we can just charge them and just take maybe fifty points of damage, Reiner learned that the hard way by taking a ‘head shot’ the moment the sim doors opened up.”

The duo nodded their heads in agreement, knowing that the bots were ‘shooting to kill’ since they had another omnium busting mission coming up in two weeks in Spain. Reiner was probably out running the training course and will be until they all finished the sim from how embarrassing that headshot was. 

“I currently have 135 points of health out of my usual 150, so, I can tank a headshot and still have 35 points to keep me going with you, but, I’m not going to willingly take a fucking headshot laying down. You get me?” Jack watched as the two soldiers nodded their heads and listened to him intently. “Good! Here’s the plan I have…”

 

“Headshot confirmed” Athena announced in the room loudly over all the ambient noise. “Squad Leader Morrison is at critical health’.

McCree blinked at that for a moment as he and the other four squad members pinned down next to him on the street level of the apartment complex heard the announcement. He looked at Rogers to his left, that was pressed up against the concrete barricade beside him and just had to ask what was on his mind. “Ain't a headshot considered a clean kill?”

“No, Morrison is an omnic and his heavy plating translates to a higher ‘health bar’ but only by 50 extra points.” Rogers explained before and explosion blew out the back of the apartment building across from them on the third floor. The bots on the roof were distracted enough by that McCree was able to swiftly get up and nail one of the fuckers in the head before quickly ducking back down as they rained down pulse munitions where he previously sat up.

McCree let out an impressed whistle as he twirled Peacekeeper in his hand and made a lopsided grin at Sanders glaring at McCree with their sniper rifle pressed against their chest as they too laid low against the barricade they were hiding behind. “That’s another headshot fer me, Sanders. What’s the score now? 4 to 6, in my favor?”

“Fuck off, McCree.” They replied before another explosion caused the roof to cave in moments later, taking down two of the bots with it and leaving just one behind that Sander’s swiftly took out with a precise shot. “5 to 6, and I’m going to close that gap!” Sanders declared with a grin of their own that had McCree smiling in response as they all got up and rushed across the street to rejoin with Morrison and his group when they came back out.

Jack’s face plate was scorched along with his fatigues under his chest armor that kept count of his health bar but he still had a meager 20 points left after taking a registered headshot and minor damage after those two explosion that pretty much leveled the third floor of the apartment with Lyons and Heinz only losing ten points each off their bars. Jesse couldn't help but notice that the pulse rifle in Jack’s arms was much slicker than it should be consider how charred he got.

“Do I even wanna know what kind of crazy shit ya pulled up there?” McCree asked as he thumbed the trashed apartment building beside them. “Engineerin’ won't be too happy to fix it all up, I bet.”

Jack casually shrugged his shoulders at that as he rested his pulse rifle against one shoulder. “There were no civilians or hostages in the building and the bots had to go.” He answered easily. 

McCree raised a brow at that, not looking convinced that it was the right call to make. “Ain't it excessive to level the top floor of a building to take out five bots?”

“Lyons and Heinz’s family would side with me on it being the right call if they don't have to attend their funerals.” Jack responded firmly. “Fixing the top floor and took of a building is easier than letting murderous bots pick off my soldiers and civilians. It's not like I brought down the whole building.”

Lyons and Heinz looked at each other at the realization before looking back at Jack with something like admiration, McCree thought. He wanted to trust his gut that Jack was indeed of a stable mind but this would be his real first shot to see how the omnic proceeded in battle and justified his actions afterwards. Jesse has been proven wrong about people too many times to count and he didn't want that to happen again. A ping to his comm took McCree’s mind off the conflict in his heart and he answered the call, listening to Takashi inform him of a very valuable piece of intel he picked up before telling the man to stay low and hold his position.

“We should get movin’ since Takashi spotted the bastion while he was scoutin’ ahead.” McCree grinned in excitement.

\--

Gabriel groaned as he watched Athena stream the simulation from the projector onto the wall of his bedroom while Ana and Reinhardt ate lunch with him on his bed. He was sitting on a cold pack wrapped up in a towel as he stuffed spaghetti into his mouth since his sheets were soiled and they planned on changing them out right after, so, it wasn't like getting sauce on the sheets would be the worse thing right now.

What was frustrating him was watching fucking Jack charging down the hallway of the apartment like fucking Rambo while Lyons and Heinz shot from around the corner to give him covering fire. The idiot takes a head shot before firing helix rockets and blowing up an old fashioned fire extinguisher at the end of the hall to cover the hallway and bots in foam that flew everywhere. Lyons and Heinz then threw their grenades after Jack threw himself into one of the rooms while the bots were too distracted to disable them, blowing up the bots and taking out the side of the building in a very overkill fashion. Gabriel brought a hand to his face as Reinhardt bursted out laughing, slapping his own thigh hard while Ana patted Gabriel’s shoulder to console him as she declined back on the ridiculous number of pillows Gabe required for his nest when he was in heat.

“Good show, Jack! Very good show!!” Reinhardt laughed with his booming voice as he sat back beside Ana towards the back of the bed while Gabriel set down his plate on the tray next to him on the bed.

Gabriel then picked up his tablet and turned on the hologram function as his fingers madly tapped away on the holo keyboard projected below the hologram monitor. Even when he was in heat he would continue to function as their commander, including, but not limited to, planning on critiquing a fucking moronic god programs on his stupid as fuck battle tactics. Gabriel was so into writing down his profanity-ridden notes that he hadn't even taken his fork out of his mouth as he chewed on the prongs from how fucking pissed off he was at Jack for pulling a fucking stunt like that.

“I’m gonna kill him, Ana.” Gabriel threatened in a thinly veiled manner as he tossed his fork onto his tray and continued to glance up at the security camera feed as Lyons and Heinz rushed into the room Jack jumped into.

“You’re not going to kill him, Gabriel.” Ana spoke in a smug fashion as she lightly pushed her foot into Gabriel's lower back playfully.

“Nope! He’s gone! Deader than dead! I’m making razor blades from his black box!”

Ana chuckled sweetly at Gabriel’s weak attempts to genuinely sound like he plans on doing more than scolding Jack when his heat is over. The worst he would do would be ‘bullying’ the god program but then Jack would quickly come to her for the save and she would put them both in their place as to not show favoritism between her friends. It was an amusing cycle that never happened before they brought Jack on board and she found herself smiling as the Jack and his other two squad mates came out into the hallway in the security feed.

“Athena?” Ana asked politely as she spun her fork to wrap the noodles around her fork.

“Yes, Captain Amari?” Athena answered.

“What’s squad leader Morrison’s remaining health amount?” She asked casually as she brought the spaghetti noodles to her mouth and bit down onto the fork to slide them off.

“Squad leader Morrison has 35 health points remaining, Captain Amari.”

“Jesus christ!” Gabriel yelled as he threw his hands up into the air in disbelief. “It’s like I never trained him, Ana!”

Ana almost choked on her food as she heard him say that and quickly swallowed as tears built up in the corners of her eyes. “I don't know about that.” She practically coughed out as she pounded her chest to clear her throat before continuing. “It DOES have the hallmark signs of a classic ‘Reyes’ tactic…” Ana started as she brought her foot back up to lazily walk it up Gabriel's back.

“No, it doesn't!” Gabriel quickly interjected as he shot her a glare over his shoulder, making Ana and Reinhardt look at each other with a mutual look of disbelief before the looked back at him. “I’m being serious!” He practically yelled at them.

“Ha!” Reinhardt balked at that. “You have used yourself a shield many times, Commander Reyes! It’s absolutely no surprise at all that one of Jack’s fallbacks are to make himself a target while everyone operates around him tanking the enemy’s attention!” He hand waved in amusement before looking at Ana with a knowing smile. “Am I right, Ana?”

“I would say it’s a bit hypocritical coming from you, Reinhardt, but you have all the appropriate fixings of a human shield, unlike SOME people we know that think accelerated healing will fix every trouble that comes their way.” Ana smirked in amusement as she set her heel on Gabriel's shoulder and wiggled her toes to annoy him before he batted her foot off his shoulder.

“Gross, Ana!” Gabriel gagged, making Ana laugh out loud. An explosion from the speakers drew everyone’s attention back to the wall as the security feed turned to static, Gabriel rising to his feet. Athena changed to another security camera that showed an outside view of the apartment, the roof completely caved in before the squad on the street took out the last remaining sniper bot on the roof that didn't fall with the others. “Athena!!”

“Yes, Commander Reyes?” She answered.

“Status report!” Gabriel ordered as he scrambled off the bed to try to find his discarded clothes on the floor. He was borderline panicking as Ana and Reinhardt quickly set aside their plates to hop off the bed to get dressed around as well, even if Ana only had to pull on her boots and coat since she got them all lunch from the meal hall. 

“All conditions are green, Commander Reyes.” Athena informed Gabriel as he pulled his boxers on and fumbled around in the darkness for his pants, the room bathed in a blue glow from the projector.

“What?!” Gabriel was borderline hysterical before he actually stopped and took a deep breath for a moment to smooth out his nerves. “Clarify. What are the conditions of squad leader Morrison along with Heinz and Lyons?” He asked in a much more collected manner.

“All three members of the Morrison squadron are in green condition, Commander Reyes. They were in sufficient cover when squad leader Morrison detonated his pulse rifle to bring down the roof and suppress the snipers posted there before agent Sanders disabled the last sniper.” 

Gabriel dropped his pants that he barely managed to get one foot in before she informed them of what happened. He was stunned, absolutely floored to hear that Jack actually detonated his fucking pulse rifle to bring down the fucking roof. Ana sat down on the bed and flat out started laughing as Reinhardt was securing his belt when he looked over at Ana with concern. Gabriel felt his face burn in embarrassment after his mind quickly narrowed down the reasons why she would find this situation hilarious until he settled on one that fit the situation perfectly: It was something that Gabriel would have done if he was in a similar situation as Morrison.

She was proven right again.

Jack fucking follows Gabriel’s unorthodox approach to warfare down to a fucking T.

“Deduct 10 health points from Morrison’s squad for that stunt, Athena. They weren't entirely in the clear of the detonation.” Gabriel ordered calmly, making Ana pause in her laughing fit.

“As per you orders, Commander.” Athena informed him.

Gabriel sighed in frustration as he ran his hand over his bald head and took his pants and boxers back off before climbing back onto the bed. He was careful to not upset any of the trays or dishes on them as he crawled across the mattress to resume his spot on top of his covered cold pack. The holo keyboard and screen appeared before him once again after he logged back into his tablet, typing in a much calmer manner than he was earlier.

“Gabriel?” Ana asked him in concern as she leaned over to place a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

“He’s an idiot, Ana.” Gabriel replied as his fingers paused for a moment when she touched his shoulder before he leaned his head over to rest his cheek against her knuckles. “He’s mistaking love for the joy he gets from hero worshipping.” 

Ana frowned at that and crawled over to Gabriel to sit down next to him, wrapping her arms around his chest to pull him back against her. “Gabriel… it’s not like that between you two…”

Reinhardt joined them after he relocated the tray beside Gabriel onto the trolley Ana used to get the food to the room and sat down on the opposite side of the omega. He gently place a hand on Gabriel’s knee as he searched the man’s face sympathetically with a smile. “Listen, Ana is right. Jack is positively smitten with you and has been for a long time.” Reinhardt spoke as he gave his knee a reassuring squeeze.

Gabriel’s head hung low, his hands dropping to his side. “I just- I just don’t know.” He confessed as she shook his head slowly. “This confession just came out of the blue for me and I don’t want to make an impulsive decision just to make Jack stop feeling like shit. He means a lot to me, but, I have no idea if it’s THAT kind of love that I have for him.”

“It’s alright to take your time, Gabriel.” Ana spoke apologetically to him. “I’m sorry for putting pressure on you.”

“To be honest, it’s easy to mistake your hesitation just as simply hesitation and not genuine consideration at times.” Reinhardt apologetically as well. 

“Well, it’s not, but, thank you for apologizing.” Gabriel sighed as the two continued to console him. Their eyes glancing up at the stream feed together as they watched the squadron take down the bastion with no excessively heroic acts from Jack. It was a clean kill that had Gabriel relieved to see the simulation come to an end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> probably one of my favorite sections to write and I didn't intend for a split POV for the scenario drill either! As usual, leave me you thoughts and I'll answer them!


	4. who confessed?! it certainly wasn't ME!

Today was day three of Gabriel’s heat and Jack wasn’t sure if he should be excited or not that Gabriel was going to go back to work starting tomorrow. Last thing Jack wanted was for Gabriel to shoot him down again but he did wanted to see the man again anyways, regardless of his crushed feelings. McCree’s constant presence was very reassuring as they walked back to the dorms together since they planned one watching an episode or two of the second season of the show they watched the previous day during lunch. Their walk was brought to a halt since there was a huge crowd poking their heads around at the fork where the two dorm halls branch out from. McCree tilted his head to the side at the sight before quickly bringing his hand up to cover his nose as he gagged.

“Holeeey shit!” The cowboy drawled out.

“You got that right, McCree.” Someone replied from the crowd in a giddy fashion before they turned back towards the officer’s hallway, joining back in on the scenting behavior the crowd was partaking in.

“What?” Jack asked McCree curiously. “Did someone burn popcorn in the microwave again?”

“If only.” McCree coughed as he kept his nose pinched shut with his fingers before looking back at the crowd. “Hey! Not all of us go into a rut from a goddamn omega being in heat! Mind packin’ yer sorry asses to the medward for lockdown?! Not all of us like like the scent of fucking alphas in their damn ruts congregating together in public walkways!” He argued.

“What the fuck is wrong with YOU that you can’t smell how wonderful the commander’s heat is, McCree? You twisted in the brain or something?” A female alpha’s voice mocked McCree from somewhere in the crowd as Jesse tensed up at the accusation.

“Nah! I bet he’s into the scent of rust.” Some cocky fucker added, making Jesse fume and bare his teeth as Jack quickly went to drag him away from the crowd to avoid a fight happening.

“You’re all fuckin’ knot heads! This is why no one respects fuckin’ alphas, Ya Pricks!” McCree shouted as Jack dragged him down the hallway towards McCree’s dorm room while the rest of the alpha pack laughed at him.

Jack’s room was the closest of theirs so he took McCree inside and tapped a button to slide the door shut behind him before he let go off the snarling cowboy’s arm. He watched as Jesse paced his room back and forth, growling under his breath and stomping off his frustration for a good minute before finally coming to a halt in front of Jack. 

“Why ya’ll let them talk ta you like that?!” Jesse jabbed an index finger against Jack’s chest plate accusingly. Most of his earlier edge was taken off with the stomping but he kind of understood why he was still angry.

“They weren't talking about me th-”

“Horse shit!” 

Jack let out a synthetic groan as he knew he couldn't get out of this one by playing the oblivious omnic here. “Okay. It doesn't bother me that a bunch of rutting idiots in a group say something stupid. They always try to act tough around me to try to show off to omegas or whatever they’re into. I’m used to being an easy target and I brush it off easily.” He explained.

Jesse was scowling at him for his response and crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me? You just keep lettin’ them push ya around and act like it's no big deal?!”

Jack held up his hands to try to placate McCree's frustration with him. “I just don't honestly care about their opinions?”

“Well, I do cause yer my pal, alright? And Jesse McCree ain’t the kind of alpha that will let anyone push around his buddies!” Jesse declared proudly. “Hell, we should talk to the boss about this kind of harassment ya’re sufferin’ became he can’t scent proof his fuckin’ door right!”

Jack was a bit flattered by the first part of Jesse declaration and found it kind of heartwarming that someone would want to stand up for him like that until he had to go and bring up Gabriel. He immediately tensed up and waved his hands rapidly to brush off the suggestion. “I-I’m sure I can tell Gabriel about that when he comes out of lockdown in his room, McCree! Stomping right over to his room is just going to make everything worse if he’s not in the right mind to be giving orders!” He tried to justify, but, only resulted in digging himself a hole when McCree quirk a brow at him.

“Didja just call the strike commander ‘Gabriel’, Jack? You know him personally?” 

“Well, you would have found out sooner than later, but, yes, the strike commander and I are friends.” Jack sheepishly admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. 

“Well, I’ll be darn. I didn’t think the strike commander would take the risk in openly being friends with an omnic, especially with the kinds of knuckleheads we got here at HQ.” Jesse remarked in annoyance.

“It was a lot worse before Captain Amari and Gabriel started tossing people out for physically assaulting omnics here at the base. I think a rutting alpha destroying my first face plate with a mallet was where he stopped giving a damn and started firing anyone who so much as touched us with an intent to harm.” Jack explained solely, not really enjoying those darker times in the first year he joined the organization.

Jesse’s eyes widened at the horrifying recount of the story and he was balling his fists tightly at his sides as he snarled. His sense of right and wrong regarding omnics was probably one of the reasons Gabriel brought him on along with being an excellent marksman. Jack was going to have to personally thank Gabriel for doing so because he never felt this touched considering McCree looked like he was going to murder someone with his bare hands, but, then took a deep breath to cool himself down.

“The boss has a good head on his shoulders, but, I would’ve stepped in much sooner before ya went and took severe damage like that.” He remarked bitterly for a moment before shaking it off as he looked back over at Jack. “Ya won’t have to worry anymore ‘bout assholes pickin’ on ya, Jack. I got yer six.” Jesse spoke as he gave Jack a sincere smile.

“Thank you, Jesse. I’ll watch your back as well.” Jack reached over and placed a hand on Jesse’s shoulder to give it a squeeze of appreciation before recalling his hand.

They ended up leaving Jack’s room shortly after and headed over to McCree’s room to watch an episode of the cartoon on his computer. Jack’s mind was wandering a bit about the whole ordeal and how out of touch he was when it came society when he lack sensory organs that would probably inform him of details like the ones Jesse referred to in the hallway earlier.

“Jesse?”

“Hm?” McCree was munching on some potato chips he snuck out of the meal hall and had his eyes on the laptop that was playing the episode on his desk. He was on the bed while Jack sat on the floor with his back resting against the bed.

“What does Gabriel’s heat smell like?”

McCree spat out his chips at that blunt question, and he had to pound his chest for a moment to stop the coughing fit he was having. “W-what did ya ask me?”

“The strike commander is in heat right now and the group of alphas were making remarks about how good it smelled. Since I assume you are an alpha, please correct me if I’m wrong, the scent has to smell like something, right?” Jack prodded further, really wanting to know what he was missing out on by not having those scenting organs or the ability to smell at all.

“Ah. Erm…” Jesse rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as his face flushed with a light shade of red in embarrassment. “I didn’t find the scent particularly appealin’ since everyone has their preference, but, I guess it smelled like a campfire? Very musky with an earthy smell. I can see why a lot of alphas would like it especially since we’re a paramilitary organization and a lot of people have fond memories of campin’ or somethin’.” He tried explaining the best he could to Jack, which was a lot more than Jack was initially expecting for an answer.

Jack nodded his head as he turned his body to lean his side against the bed to look at McCree since he found this way more interesting than the show they were watching. “So, people are attracted to scents others emit that remind them of fond memories?”

Jesse thought about that for a moment as he brought his hand up to scratch at his beard. “Maybe. I actually never thought of that, to be honest. A scent is just a scent and some people find it more pleasant than others dependin’ on what it is, I guess.”

“What about people who don’t have a scent?” Jack asked curiously.

“Everyone has a musk they give off even when not rutting or being in heat. Betas even have their own smell, but, it's a lot more subdued than an alpha or an omega.” Jesse then smiled as he looked at Jack. “Pretty sure omnics carry a scent too, even if it's one that is produced from the environment they are in or the people they interact with.”

Jack perked up at that as he stood up and climbed on the bed with Jesse. “You serious?! I have a smell?!”

Jesse was chuckling fondly at Jack’s excitement, like an adult taking their child to the rodeo for the first time in their life. “Yep! Want me to-”

“YES!”

Now Jesse was full out laughing at Jack’s eagerness, but, it was quickly over as soon as it began as he nodded his head. “Alright. Stand still, Partner, and I’ll try to describe it the best I can.”

Jack went comedically ridged as Jesse scooted over to him on the bed and leaned over to press his nose into the fabric of Jack’s t-shirt against his side. “Hmm… definitely can smell detergent. This a clean shirt?” He asked as he continued to lightly sniff around, moving toward the front of Jack’s chest.

“Yeah. I always change into a new shirt and pants in the morning and if they get dirty.”

Jesse frowned as he stopped his investigation and sat right back down where he was after pulling away from Jack. “Well, that makes it too hard for even an alpha like me to see if there’s a prominent odor on ya if ya never let yer clothes stay on ya fer a while.” He remarked.

Jack ended up looking down at his t-shirt and pants before looking back over at Jesse. “Maybe I should wear them for a whole day or two?” He asked curiously as he reached his hand down to pull lightly at the fabric of his shirt for emphasis. 

“Ya could try, if ya really want to experiment with me on this.” Jesse offered.

“I really want to know, so, yes, I want to let this play out.” Jack informed him as he thought about how amazing it would be to have a scent of his own and then ask Gabriel to see if he could smell the same thing as well on him. His own unique scent!

Jesse grinned at that before looking at Jack in a skeptical manner.

“What?” Jack asked.

“Why’re ya’ll so curious ‘bout the strike commander’s scent and if ya have yer own anyways, Jack?” Jesse asked in a non-accusatory manner.

“I… uh…” Jack looked away as he wondered if he should come clean or not to McCree. He only knew the guy for a few days and while he wouldn’t want to assume McCree had a motive for getting close to him, he didn’t want to make trouble for Gabriel if there were consequences for being honest. “I feel like I’m missing out on a lot of things by being an omnic.”

Jesse blinked at him for a moment before frowning and placing a hand on Jack’s back to rub slow circles into it. “If it’s anythin’, Jack, I don’t think you’re missin’ anythin’ important by not bein’ on the spectrum.”

Jack sighed heavily at that. “It is when the person you admire is an omega…”

“If it was like that then no beta would ever be able to find happiness considerin’ they’re neither alpha or omega. Even then, I don’t see what’s stoppin’ ya from tellin’ yer omega friend that they put the colors in yer world, Jack.” Jesse offered happily as he continued to rub Jack’s back.

Jack sighed in frustration as he looked over at Jesse. “I did tell them that I wanted them in a romantic manner, Jesse, but, all they told me was that they ‘never considered it before’. I don’t know what was wrong with me to come clean when it’s clear that an omega would never consider someone not on the spectrum, especially an omnic!”

Jesse looked concerned at Jack for his confession before giving him an empathetic smile as he pulled Jack’s into a hug. “I don’t think the world is that black and white, Jack. Yer a really fun guy to be around and yer not even cold to hold. I don’t see why anyone would reject ya solely on the principle that ya don’t have the ‘equipment’ fer the job or can’t scent plaster yer scent all over them.”

Jack was quiet for a good long moment, letting himself slowly reciprocate the hug as he rest his head against Jesse’s shoulder. Not even Ana was this good at getting through to him, but, maybe it was because he didn’t have to worry about Jesse ratting him out to Gabriel and just help talk him through his doubts. Someone outside their circle of friends that he could lean on and trust. It was a wonderful feeling to know that maybe he could trust someone.

“Thank you, Jesse.”

“Anytime, Jack. Anytime.”

\--

Gabriel was a whimpering mess with tears rolling down his cheeks. Reinhardt had finally come into his rut in the third day of his heat and was insistent in wrecking Gabriel to the point of overstimulation. Unlike yesterday, where Gabriel had to take it a bit easier against his body’s wishes to be able to watch the simulation stream, he was getting pounded hard by Reinhardt’s big german cock and the man’s insatiable sex drive that ALMOST matched his as an enhanced super soldier.

This had to have been Gabriel’s third orgasm in a row because he could barely process a thought with how sufficiently fucked out of his mind he was while Reinhardt continued to pound away at him. Ana had been in her rut since day one of Gabriel’s their cycles pretty much synched at this point since she was Gabriel’s first consistent partner before they brought Reinhardt into the bedroom four years ago. She was currently a sweating mess at the head of the bed and resting since Reinhardt had a go at her while Gabriel was recuperating from the earlier session.

The bedsheets were a disgusting mess, but none of the trio had the energy to change them when they were just going to soil it with cum and lubricant again. 

Reinhardt’s orgasm was enough to finally take the alpha out as he laid Gabriel and himself down on their sides, panting hard and caked with sweat on their bodies. Gabriel kept still as Reinhardt’s knot slowly deflated inside of him, whimpering when the massive man pulled out of him and left his ass a gaping hole. Thank the lord that neither Reinhardt or Ana looked down on him after his heat was over for how he so willingly bended for the alphas, especially on the third day when he was practically begging them for cum. It was absolutely humiliating for him to be reduced to such a pathetic state but Reinhardt was right there and gently rubbing slow circles on Gabriel’s chest while they laid there together.

“You alright, Gabriel?” The German asked quietly, concerned for him enough to whisper softly since Gabriel was overstimulated enough as it was.

Gabriel chuckled weakly between heavy pants as his mind was still in that pleasant haze of satisfaction but nodded his head nonetheless. “Felt good.”

“I’m glad.” Reinhardt chuckled softly as he continued to calming circles over Gabriel’s chest, letting Gabriel unwind with ease from that session between them. “You want some water?” He asked.

“Mmm…” Gabriel shrugged off quietly as he rested the side of his face against the mattress as he relaxed. “Sleep…?”

“We could do that.” Reinhardt agreed before slowly sitting up on the bed, making Gabriel grumble in annoyance when his big spoon shifted the bed and moved away from his back to keep him warm. “I think we should change out the sheet before that and actually try to use the plastic sheet cover next time.”

Ana promptly shoved a leg out from under her pillow cave to boot Reinhardt lightly in the butt with the arch of her foot. “I’m not moving.”

Reinhardt turned to look at Ana Amari, hiding under the pile of pillows, and chuckled in amusement. “Come on now, Ana, the sheets need to be changed if we plan on resting for a while.” He tried to reason with her before he caught a pillow she tossed at him.

“No. Mine.” She hissed, but, it was a childish response that Reinhardt could not take seriously as he rose from the bed with a hearty chuckle. 

“I believe a reset of the bed is in order.” Reinhardt declared, making Gabriel instantly scramble off the bed as Reinhardt squatted down to reach under the side of the mattress.

“No. NO! Don’t you fucking daREEE!!” Ana was promptly dumped off the bed with the pillows as Reinhardt lifted it all the way over to displace the stubborn alpha with a grin. Gabriel looked at Ana with something like pity before walking like a crab to the bathroom to take a shower while Ana bickered with Reinhardt as he started stripping down the bed spread again.

To be honest, it was the safest way any of them were going to get Amari out of her pillow cave and reset the perceived territory any of them claimed on the bed. It was how the three of them dealt with the territorial aggressions of rutting alphas and an omega in heat who just wanted to fucking nest without Ana try to claw Reinhardt’s other eye out (not that it ever got that bad).

Have sex, one alpha rests while the other one takes over omega fucking duties, and then the bed gets dumped if they all agree on a ‘rest’ period. Pretty simple and effective procedure.

After Gabriel came out of the shower and dried off, he saw that a new spread had been put onto the bed with the dirty sheets in the ever mounting pile in the corner. Ana was holding one of the pillows to her chest and watching Reinhardt casually toss the other pillows onto the bed. Gabriel felt the instinctive need to arrange the pillows properly and crawled onto the bed to start scooping them up into his arms, sitting in the center of the bed to start arranging them in a fashion he found appealing for three people sharing a nest. Ana and Reinhardt took turns to use the bathroom to do their business and clean up a bit before waiting for Gabriel to finish up.

“Okay. It’s good.” Gabriel looked over at them and nodded his head before laying down on his side in the center of the bed. Reinhardt got in first, sliding in under the sheet behind Gabriel, while Ana slid in front of the omega and casually ducked her head under Gabriel’s chin while Reinhardt buried his nose into the back of Gabe’s neck. They both draped an arm over Gabriel’s waist, making their dear friend feel secure enough before the three of them drifted off to sleep together.

\--

“Okay! Let’s try again, Partner!” Jesse encouraged Jack as he sat back down on Jack’s couch, folding a leg casually over his knee and held up his tablet to make it look like he was busy on the device. Jack nervously looked at Jesse and tried to imagine that it was Gabriel in that spot even though it was kind of difficult to do the ‘imagine’ part the way Jesse describe it to him. He just couldn’t think of it as literally swapping out since this was an ambiguous phenomena humans did to mentally prepare themselves for a stressful situation.

Jack cleared his throat, not really caring that he had no throat to clear, before casually walking over to the couch and regarding not-Jesse for a moment. “Ah! Good afternoon, Omega-Who-I-Cherish. May I sit next to you?” He asked in his most polite voice, feeling awkward about this whole scenario in many ways before Jesse lowered his tablet and regarded him with a smile.

“Sure thing, Jack! Have a seat!” Jesse drawled in amusement as he slid over on the couch to make room for Jack to have a seat. Jack took a seat next to him and was about to say something before noticing that Jesse had the tablet on his lap and was looking at him with undivided attention.

“Oh. The omega that I like wouldn’t just put his tablet down, especially if they are a workaholic like they are…” Jack nervously remarked before watching Jesse give an ‘oh!’ and turn back away from him while holding his tablet up again.

“Like this?” Jesse asked as he kept his focus on the tablet and pretended to be scrolling through a program.

“Yeah.”

Jesse nodded his head in acknowledgement before looking at Jack. “Anythin’ else I should know about their personality other than the omega being a workaholic?”

Jack thought about that for a few moments. He needed to describe Gabriel in a way that wouldn’t flat out give the commander away as being the token of Jack’s affection, but, would give McCree enough to go on for a decent simulation of the scenario. Jack hummed as he brought a hand up to lightly rub at his chin with his thumb, a bit saddened that he didn’t have the capacity to grow a beard like Gabriel did since that gesture seemed to help invigorate his mind somehow. “Okay. They’re proud, a shining exemplar of humanity, good-looking, and tends to hesitate when it comes to matters concerning them in a person manner.” 

Jesse blinked at that for a few moments with a blank expression on his face, making Jack wonder if he should try to act out a conversation they once had before Jesse’s lips curled into a knowing smile. Jack tensed up at that since there was no way that could be a good omen since Ana used a similar expression a lot when she had any of them cornered. “I gotcha, Partner! Let’s try again!” Jesse chuckled in amusement before facing forward and holding up his tablet once more. He seemed to lose any of his usual cowboy charm in a quick moment as he made a blank/default expression while playing with his tablet.

Jack squirmed a bit in his seat, not really sure if he should be scared of what Jesse had in store for him, since he wouldn’t know Gabe like he did, or relieved if the cowboy thinks he has a crush on someone else in the compound. He glanced back over at Jesse to see him reclining in the seat and swiping his finger across the screen like he was checking off documents left and right in a tedious fashion that REALLY made Jack nervous. “U-Uh. Um… Omega?” Jack intelligently asked in a very skittish manner and tensed up as Jesse swiped his finger sharply across the screen again before looking over at Jack with the tablet still up. 

“Yeah, Jack?” He asked smoothly, dropping his southern accent all together and making one piston on each of Jack’s shoulder pop out as they spewed a bit of steam.

FUCK.

FUCK. FUCK. FUCK.

“I. Uhh! Umm! Are you busy later?” Jack anxiously asked as he twiddled his thumbs in his lap.

“Got a lot of meetings, but, what’s on your mind?” McCree asked with a small but genuinely interested smile on his lips as he was being Gabriel’s doppler gander right here on the couch with him.

Another set of pistons popped up on his shoulder as more heat was being generated from his core, processors starting to run warm from how Jack was now running a lot of simulations at once in his head on how to proceed. Jesse McCree fucking figured it out with no problem whatsoever on who Jack had a crush on! This was so embarrassing! 

“W-Would you go- would you like to eat dinner with me? No! Wait! We do that with the others already!” Jack brought his hands up to clamp his head as he started panicking and popped another pair of pistons as steam was visibly pushing through the strained fabric of his t-shirt where the pistons were covered. “Oh! H-How ‘bout a walk after dinner outside of the compound?” He quickly offered as he looked over at Jesse.

“A walk?” Jesse repeated before bringing a hand up to cup his chin and rub his thumb against his beard (god fucking damn it!!). “I think I can make time for it.” He replied as he looked back down at his tablet to swipe around and tap like he was opening up a program or something. “You good for maybe a nine pm stroll, Jackie?” Jesse then paused and dropped out of character as he looked at Jack in confusion. “Would the strike commander call you a nickname?”

“Could you NOT say it out loud?!” Jack pleaded as he glanced about his surroundings like other people were listening in on them.

Jesse’s face was completely smug at that and he quickly caught Jack’s wrist before he could flee the room when the last set of pistons popped up under his shirt, steam flooding out from the vents. “Now, now, Jack. Listen here.” He chuckled in amusement when Jack, who could clearly overpower Jesse and flee from the room if he wanted to, stayed put to listen to him ever though he was using his free hand to cover up his face plate in embarrassment. “The commander comes out of lockdown tomorrow and that’s when you’ll-”

“He’s going to reject me, Jesse.” Jack spoke quietly, making McCree pause for a good moment before he pressed on.

“Well, have ya ever even tried-”

“Yes. Before he went into lockdown.” Jack soberly spoke as his pistons slowly snapped back closed one-by-one on his shoulders while keeping his hand over his faceplate. “He plans on tell me if he’ll consider me as anything more than a friend tomorrow and… I will respect whatever decision he makes since I know we’ll still be friends and he’ll always have my back.” He confessed quietly to the cowboy as Jesse brought his hand to his back to rub slow circles into it. “It’s a loss I will have to get over.”

Jesse nodded his head and continued to rub his friend’s back, letting the silence bring some form of comfort to Jack as the cowboy considered his next choice of words carefully. “You want me to be there with ya, Jack? Or at least stay somewhere nearby?”

Jack considered that for a moment before shaking his head. “Gabe will probably find me sometime tomorrow when I least expect it. His schedule is always in flux, after all.” He remarked before turning to low his hand off his faceplate as he looked at Jesse. “Thank you though.”

Jesse smiled sympathetically and brought his hand up to reassuringly pat Jack on the shoulder. “Ain’t no problem, Jack.”

They then went over to Jesse’s room to unwind by watching some more of the second season of the cartoon show Jesse liked while the cowboy ate dinner on his bed. Jack was thankful that Jesse didn’t bring up Gabriel or tomorrow for the rest of the evening, and leaving when it was ten pm to encourage the cowboy to not pull another all-nighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy you guys are all diving into this series and enjoying the hell out of it! Your reviews give me extra energy to work on each new chapter! Please be sure to leave your thoughts on this chapter as well! I want to know what you thought of it!


	5. Please Notice Me

Two Years Ago at Zurich HQ, One Month After Jack Joined The Organization

 

The first time Jack heard any human referred to as ‘alpha’, ‘omega’, or ‘beta’ was in passing a few weeks after he was installed into his modified omnic body, made to specification by the engineering department to hold his black box. There was a lot to learn about the world and how complex humans were compared to omnics that Jack had overseen in the omnium. Facial expressions just added a whole new layer of behavior and gestures he would have to learn on top of ‘little’ things that weren't exactly ‘little’ if they lead to huge shit storms - like apologizing to an alpha after you bumped shoulders with them and they took a mallet to your face plate when the situation escalated in a manner he couldn't predict. 

Jack was still under his observation period at the time and was confined to Gabriel's room as Ana, Reinhardt and Gabe taught him how to be a functional omnic in human society. He merely wandered into the hallway since his net access was heavily restricted and wanted to observe humans coming to and from the dorm. It was easier to pick up the subtleties of human interaction if he saw it first hand, right?

Athena warned him about leaving the room and he went anyways. 

Every action has consequences, right?

“You heard Athena’s recount of the story along with the witnesses testimony that were in the hallway and the security footage, Commander.” The alpha officer who assaulted Jack, John Haggins, spoke professionally. Reinhardt was sitting with Jack in Gabriel's room and listening to the proceeding since Ana insisted on sneaking her phone in so Jack could ‘earn a ‘valuable’ lesson. Jack’s visual sensor along with one auditory receptor were damaged in the assault, so, all he could do was point his undamaged auditory receptor in the direction of the phone to listen in.

“So, you claim that the omnic in question attacked you and it was for self-defense, Officer Higgins?” Ana asked, Jack could hear the tapping of a pen or similar object in the background along with the rustling of clothing, likely Ana’s phone brushing up against her pocket or something depending on where she hid it.

“Yes, Captain Amari.” 

“Recount your side of the story for us then.” She asked.

“Sir.” Huggins likely saluted or something before he started to speak. “Officer Walker and I left the meal hall around 01:00. We were in good spirits since they were serving delicious clam chowder and we had an exhausting morning in the air wing repairing the dropships that got damaged in the last mission since the have to be ready to fly in two days. Since we had time left over from our meal, we headed back to the dorm hall to play some holo games in Officer Lancer’s room since he texted us the invitation. It was there that the omnic and I collided, right outside the entrance to the dorm wing for officers and above. 

I didn't think much of it at first, omnics aren't bad since it's the god programs enslaving them against their will, but then I realized there was no reason for an omnic of its size to be coming from the officer’s wing, much less with anything that would imply it was doing a job there. Thinking that there might be something suspicious going on, I started questioning the omnic, making sure I kept a casual hold onto my tool belt in case the omnic was an infiltrator in case I had to defend myself. The omnic started asking me questions instead of answering the ones I asked it and that’s when I felt like the omnic was an obvious infiltrator the god programs sent in. I attacked it with my mallet to protect us all by incapacitating it so it could be apprehended without hurting anyone, Sir.” He finished speaking while the tapping in the background continued.

“What made the omnic suspicious in the first place?” The commander spoke up, drawing Jack’s attention to the smoothness of his voice and how much it set him at ease to hear him speak. 

“Sir, it was because he was in the officer’s dorm wing and we have no ranking omnics that are staying there along with the fact that it had nothing on its persons that would imply that it was there for a reason.” The officer replied promptly and professionally. 

The tapping on the desk continued.

“Was the omnic in question wearing any officially distributed clothing in any capacity at the time, Officer Briggins?” Reyes asked, his tone even as he handled the case with ease.

“Yes, Sir, the omnics was wearing dark blue track pants with the organization’s logo on it and a black tank top.” 

“Correct, and the security footage would confirm your observation as well. Which brings me to my next question: ‘Why did you think an omnic was suspicious when they were wearing clothing that is only available for purchase to officers and above, at the moment?’” Reyes asked, making Jack a bit confused about why it was even relevant to ask that question considering that he could have stolen it.

“Sir, would it not further implicate that the omnic might have stolen it from one of the rooms?” Briggins asked liked Jack predicted. The tapping in the background seemed to pick up in intensity a bit at the alpha’s inquiry.

“So, you thought the omnic was suspicious because it came from the officer’s dorm hallway but not the fact that it was wearing clothing a ranking member from that hallway would only have access to?” Reyes asked firmly. “Why is that, Officer Briggins?”

“Erm, I didn't really notice it, Sir.” Briggins admitted honestly.

“So, the clothing didn't tip you off that the omnic might be out of place, but, something else did…” Reyes hummed out loud as the tapping continued. “So, we can sufficiently rule out that you didn't suspect the omnic of theft as grounds to question them on their reason for being in the hallway.” He concluded, surprising Jack that he was actually ruling out motives Jack could have had rather then just saying flat out that Jack was innocent of any wrongdoing.

“Ah, but, the omnic could have stolen data from an officer’s data pad! You and Captain Amari could have-”

“You didn't suspect the omnic in question of theft in any degree, Officer Briggins. You declared that much in your testimony and your failure to mention the omnic’s outfit at all supports this fact. Your focus was elsewhere when the omnic got your attention and that’s what I want to know, Officer, since it clearly wasn't a possible theft of personal property on your mind.” Reyes pushed as the tapping increased in tempo against the desk in the background.

“Sir, it's as I said earlier, they had no reason to be in the officer’s dorm wing and dodged my questioning by asking questions in return.” Briggins answered resolutely, growing a bit more annoyed with having to repeat himself to the commander.

“Alright. Let’s say I run the tapes and verify that no theft of any kind occurred. For an omnic that ‘isn't suppose to be there’ they have clothing that only someone in that wing would have access to. The clothing in this investigation has been out of stock for a month as well, I made sure to talk to uniform staff to confirm this information before calling you here, Officer Briggins. So, tell me, what is an omnic with those clothes on doing in the officer’s dorm hallway if not stealing?” Reyes remarked, wanting to continue the questioning after he passed the ball to the alpha’s court. 

“Commander, I mean no disrespect, but, you’re ignoring the way the omnic deflect my questions, which is ample enough reason to be suspicious of them.” Briggins demanded firmly. 

The insistent tapping in the background finally fell silent.

“Oh?” Reyes asks like he’s about to crack a casual joke than have a serious conversation. “Go right ahead, Officer Briggins. Tell us about the unusual questions if you really felt they were important. It wouldn't be fair to overlook something critical in cases like this.”

Briggins was quiet for a long moment before speaking hesitantly. “I-I don't see what’s funny, C-Commander.”

“You’re right. My apologies.” Reyes straightened right back up, snapping backing into his professional voice when he cleared his throat. “Officer Briggins, please explain the events surrounding your conversation with the omnic that prompted you to escalate the situation as you did.”

“Right…” Briggins still sounded a bit hesitant but seemed more confident when he recounted his interaction with Jack. “I asked the omnic why he was coming out of the officer’s dorm hall and it seemed startled, like it wasn't expecting me to engage it when it was acting so suspiciously. The omnic then asks me questions to try to throw me off by asking me if he was suppose to say something to ease my anger. Then it starts babbling about how it was ‘learning’ about interaction and hoped it would help me understand. What kind of omnic is hired onto this base and not know how to interact with people? It then went for my tool belt and I decided to not hesitate and suppress the infiltrator right then and there, Sir.”

Reyes sighed in an exacerbated manner at hearing the explanation. “Athena?”

“Yes, Commander?”

“Play back the third section of audio I asked you to save.” Reyes ordered.

“Yes, Commander.” Athena answered before an audio recording started playing over the intercom in the room.

‘What’s the tool belt for?’ Jack’s voice played back, his curiosity shining through in the moment.

‘It’s none of your fucking business, Omnic! What I want to know is why you’re ignoring my questions!’ Briggins spat heatedly in response.

‘Oh, that? I came out here to watch everyone. It’s easier to understand humans if I can observe them first hand, right?’

‘Fuck it! I’ve heard enough of your shit!’ A loud crashing sound, followed by an even louder one when Jack hit the floor after getting hit with the mallet could clearly be heard on the audio playback before Athena ended it.

Jack felt hollow in that moment, anxiety swirling inside of him as his mind tried to replay what happened and came up with corrupted data. The hit to his head interrupted the saving process along with many other sensory ones but this replay just made him dissociate from the incident even more so. He was actually treated like the enemy for asking questions. 

“You know…” 

Jack refocused on Gabriel’s voice as it broke through the pregnant pause after Athena stopped playing back the audio. 

“There are ways to suppress an omnic that doesn’t involve beating their heads in with a mallet, Officer. How do you expect us believe your story of espionage if all we can extract is corrupted data?” Gabriel asked him in a rather cold manner. “What makes this whole event even more jarring was the fact that you were a day into your rut and did not follow lockdown protocol. You went to work acting like nothing was wrong when it was the opposite of what the rules state, Officer Briggins.”

“I was just fine for duty, Sir! The first day barely affects me at all!” Briggins explained. “Why go on lockdown if-”

“You go on lockdown on day one because that’s the rules you agreed to follow when you joined the organization, Officer Briggins! ‘It’s not a problem on my first day of rut’? It doesn’t matter what you think; the rules are in place to protect both you and everyone else around you. No alpha or omega is exempt from this rule! Not even the goddamn Strike Commander!” He slammed his hands on the table and a chair was shoved backward against the floor from what Jack could make out. “Do you even understand what you have done to your own credibility by leaving your room that day, Officer Briggins?! Clearly not because you clubbed an innocent omnic in the head for just fucking asking you a few questions!”

“Sir! How can you expect me not to act when a suspicious omnic is-”

“HOW THE FUCKING HELL IS HE SUSPICIOUS, OFFICER?!” Gabriel yelled furiously. “I just TOLD you that he was wearing gear that he could not get normally and that there was no unauthorized access to any of the fucking rooms! Athena would have immediately alerted us if there was suspicious omnic activity! You think we don’t scrutinize everyone as being a possible spy?! You refused to question the omnic properly and went straight to handling the situation with violence in a goddamn military compound, Officer Briggins! That fact that you were also in your rut makes this that much worse! You think you’re some goddamn hero for ‘protecting’ us from the ‘crazy omnic’? Well, you aren’t!”

“What the hell did you expect me to do-”

“Shut the FUCK up, Officer Briggins! NONE of this would have happened if you had followed protocol and not let your goddamn pheromones blind you to the obvious! I refuse to let someone like you put our organization at risk by disobeying protocol and clubbing someone in the goddamn head because you couldn’t think straight!” The chair was pulled back across the ground and groaned under the weight of the person sitting in it. “You’re being dishonorably discharged, Briggins. Your stuff is outside of the room and you will be escorted off the premise.”

\--

Jack was nervous as he came out of the gender neutral bathroom, closing the door behind with a soft click. It was already past noon on the day Gabriel would give him his answer and Jack was terrified at the thought that Gabriel was avoiding him.

Okay. He was lying.

Jack was intentionally avoiding the places Gabriel went because he was scared shitless of being rejected. 

McCree smiled at Jack as he pushed his back off the wall across from the gender neutral bathroom door and walked over to him, hands tucked casually into his pockets. “Feelin’ better, Jack?” He asked.

Jack let out a sigh and shook his head. “Everything is in order but I still feel antsy. I don’t think another mirror check is going to help me at all though.” 

Jesse frowned at that before giving Jack and empathetic smile as he stepped up and put an arm over Jack’s shoulder as they started walking down the hall together. “Yer as good as yer gonna get, Jack. I got yer back when we go in fer team laser tag in a few minutes!”

Jack felt a little bit relieved by his friend’s reassurance, especially since the tactical simulation, aka ‘laser tag’, would involve Gabriel. Ana and Reinhardt were in the midst of their ruts, which usually happened in tandem with the Strike Commander’s heat. Jack felt a pair of pistons pop on his shoulders as they let out some warm air while he thought about how intimate it was to have synchronized biological changes with another. He wanted to be there with Gabriel, Ana and Reinhardt; be there with his friends when they were at their most vulnerable.

They ended up at the simulation building ten minutes before ‘laser tag’ was to begin, sitting down on the bench together as McCree took out his phone and scooted closer to Jack. “So, I was doin’ a little searchin’ on the web…” Jesse chuckled mischievously as he unlocked his phone and pulled up his web browser before handing the device to Jack. 

Jack took it from his friend curiously and felt two sets of pistons pop out of his shoulder almost comedically as he saw what was on the screen: It was a pornographic website. Jack’s internet restrictions did not let him know what any particular sexual thing was unless it was something like a dictionary definition or an anatomy diagram but THIS?! It was a site dedicated to human and omnic sexual relationships! Or, at least, the pornographic aspect of the relationships.

“I figured that ya weren’t privy to the shallower side of things.” McCree chuckled as he leaned over and used his finger to scroll up to where the ‘most popular search term’ list was before clicking on it. The browser refreshed the page to show a very long list of search terms the user base used on the website and Jack was rather shocked at what was on the top fifteen most searched terms; one of them being ‘scent-marking’. “Yer not the only one interested in these kinds of relationships, Partner.” Jesse smiled warmly as he plucked his phone gingerly from Jack’s hand, locked his screen and tucked it back into his pocket.

Jack was still spewing out heat from his pistons as Jack couldn’t believe how ridiculously happy he was at that knowledge. People wanted omnics and they wanted scent marking to be possible between omnic and human pairs. This was probably one of the nicest surprises Jack had ever had in his life.

“What’s got you excited, Jackie?”

Jack tensed up and saw Gabriel walking over to him and Jesse while they were sitting on the bench. McCree was relaxing with his arms behind his head and one leg over his knee, looking like he owned the place as he glanced over at Jack in amusement. Gabriel was looking a lot better and dressed in his usual prototype hoodie for the organization’s internal clothing line along with those tight pants of his. He had his typical beanie on over his head and a datapad tucked under his arm as he casually plopped down on the bench where it was open on Jack’s right. Gabriel regarded his curiously as he was likely wondering what got his systems going enough that he had to vent out the heat.

“McCree showed me something interesting.” Jack cooly answered, making Gabriel quirk a brow at him predictably for that vague answer. Gabriel had his datapad out on his lap and was scrolling through his emails but apparently found Jack’s discovery to be more interesting than his work for once.

“Yeah? Was it a cat video or something?”

“Pornography.”

Gabriel’s datapad fell to the floor in a clatter as McCree and Gabriel stared at Jack in full out shock when he looked back and forth between the two men. This was far too amusing to pass up but he quickly put up a hand to try to placate Gabriel as his look of shock morphed into an expression of hatred when he went to try to get up (and likely strangle McCree). “Why you little-!”

“Chill, Gabe. I was pulling your leg.” Jack spoke, moving his hand to Gabriel’s shoulder to keep him seated just in case he wasn’t convinced. “Would you really be that angry at something so small?”

Gabriel was scowling at Jack now but didn’t seem like he was going to move to beat the shit out of McCree like he looked tempted to do before. “I can’t see any possible reason for you to be looking up stuff like pornography willingly, Jack. Did McCree show you expletive material or not?”

“Wait. What?” Jack was a bit taken back with that statement Gabriel just made. “Are you implying that I have no reason to research pornography, Gabriel Reyes?” He asked, completely offended that statement was actually coming out of such an intelligent person’s mouth.

“What do you even NEED it for, Jackie?” Gabriel shot back at him, his face flushing from how embarrassing this all was to be talking about in public. “You can just ask Reinhardt or Ana if you have any birds and the bees questions! Ana has had a kid for christsakes!”

“It’s not the ‘birds and the bees’ that I’m interested, Asshole, and you know it! Also, why can’t I just ask you questions on it? Why does it always have to be me going to Ana and Reinhardt all the time?” Jack huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Gabriel let out a frustrated sigh as he leaned over and picked up his undamaged datapad before getting up in a hurry, pushing Jack’s hand off his shoulder. “I’m not here to babysit you, Jack. I need to go anyways. See you in the arena.” He brushed the whole conversation like it didn’t involve him as he walked away from them in a very grouchy manner. Jack was about to get up and follow him but knew that Gabriel did genuinely have a job to perform. They would likely talk afterwards anyways so it would probably just make things worse to pursue him now.

When Gabriel finally disappeared, Jack looked back over at McCree, who was looking at him in disappointment. “Why’d ya have to tell it to him like that? Now, he thinks yer just lookin’ at porn and not the relevant stuff around it that ya are more interested in.” Jesse spoke quietly as he elbowed Jack lightly in the side.

“I didn’t think he would get so defensive about it. He make sex jokes all the time around Reinhardt and Ana but thinks someone else is trying to indirectly make fun of him if I make a similar joke, like someone tried to deceive me into saying something ‘stupid’.” Jack sighed as he ran a hand over his chrome dome. “He says I’m his friend but then see’s me as something too innocent regardless of all the time I spend around Ana and them.”

McCree frowned and nodded his head. “It’s gotta be rough being treated like that by someone ya adore.”

“It is, but, I’m as much at fault for not being firm with him and just laughing it off all the time. If I want him to see me in a new light then we need to communicate more effectively than we have in the past, even if he doesn’t want to be intimate with me.” Jack spoke firmly with resolve as he got up and offer Jesse a hand to pull him up from the bench. Jesse took his hand and let himself be hauled up to his feet.

“Seems fair t’me. ‘Be the change ya wanna see’ an’ all.” Jesse agreed as he straightened up his hat on his head and turned to see the rest of the simulation groups walking towards the arena together.

“Exactly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! If you enjoyed this chapter of the fic, please let me know what you did or did not like in the reviews! I always try to reply to reviews when I can!


	6. Let's talk it out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for the two of them to have that talk!

Gabriel was frustrated as he got to the control room, doing his best to keep it from affecting him as the techs there were already running tests. Jack’s little explosion two days ago actually worked out in his favor since the engineering and tech departments decided to do touch ups on the first floor of the simulation building to add more hazards. The third floor of that ‘apartment’ wasn’t getting fixed anytime soon but it certainly got the ball rolling on upgrades they could do to the buildings or safety systems if blowing shit up was going to be a possible tactic from now on.

Seriously though. He really needed to talk to Jack and not allowed himself to chicken out of a conversation like that. Jack and himself were adults, regardless of how naive Jack can be at times. He had a very good point about Gabriel pushing off certain things onto Reinhardt and Ana but it was because they were better at understanding what he wanted from certain topics than himself.

“Sir?”

Gabriel was dragged out of his head as one of the techs looked at him expectantly. 

“Yeah?”

“Athena uploaded the randomized rosters to the system and we want to know if this will be okay to go on.” The tech informed him, bringing up the team rosters on the giant monitor that was currently showing a view of the first floor of the sim chamber without any effects turned on. The UI overlaid on top of the footage of techs and engineers doing their last minute checks of the environment system, making Gabriel frown as he saw what the lineup was; Jack and him were on the same team with McCree being on team two. 

He kind of wanted the chance to see for himself how McCree and Jack worked together but it would be alright. This setup gives him the best access to Jack in an environment he won't have to worry about their conversations going off-topic and allow him to better critique Jack’s tactics.

“Approved. It’s not truly ‘random’ if I mess with it, right?” Gabriel added with an amused chuckle before stepping up to start keying in the data points he wanted for the battle simulation. Hopefully this would make things a bit more interesting if two ‘super beings’ like him and Jack were going to be on one team.

Gabriel headed down to the men’s changing room after he confirmed with Athena that the data he entered would be interpreted correctly into the environmental simulator. She seemed rather amused by his proposals and offered her own changes to better handicap team one. Gabriel allowed two of them to go through but axed the ‘you should make Jack go in unarmed’ idea since the last thing they needed was another building getting a floor caved-in like last time.

Jack and Jesse were still in the changing room but thankfully on the other side of one of the rows of lockers so he could get changed around in relative peace. Gabriel pressed his thumb to the fingerprint scanner and the locker clicked open, revealing several shelves that had Gabe’s training attire in it along with an extra pair of boots he only used in the simulation building. He placed his datapad in the empty top shelf after making sure it was powered off - any urgent requests would be forward to his commlink in his ear by Athena but he was otherwise occupied for the next two hours for the simulation. He was in the process of removing his hoodie as he heard a telling sniff in the otherwise silent locker room and paused to make sure he wasn't hearing things before he heard the same noise again. Gabriel quickly folded up his hoodie in a neat manner before placing it on the bench and snuck over to the corner of the lockers to peek over at the two.

Jack was sitting on the bench with his back facing Gabriel and Jesse McCree leaning over in front of him, burying his face into the crook of Jack’s shoulder. Gabriel tensed up, feeling his teeth grit as he watched the intimate interaction take place between the alpha and Jack. He had to calm himself down before he did anything rash like misinterpreting the interaction, especially when McCree pulled away with a perplexed expression on his face. If it was something romantic like scenting then it would be very strange for McCree to be skeptical and not blissed out like Ana and Reinhardt were when they scented him during his heat. It made Gabriel more curious than furious when he considered those circumstances and watched as Jack lifted his arm while McCree leaned down again to smell the omnic’s shirt under his pit. Gabriel quirked a brow at that as he pressed his hands quietly against the lockers for balance.

What the hell were these two playing at here?

“Anything?” Jack asked, his voice hopeful as McCree pulled away and lowered his arm back down to rest his hands on his knees.

McCree frowned as he placed his hands on his hips. “I’m not smellin’ anythin’ that screams ‘this is Jack’ at me yet.” He admitted, Jack's shoulders going slack as he let out a disappointed sigh.

“Maybe it’s too early to assume something uniquely me will show up on day one?” Jack asked as he got up and went over to his locker, his thumb case flipping open to press the silicon pad with a fingerprint on it against the fingerprint scanner to open up his own locker. The case then latched closed over the silicone pad and he went to work stripping out of his clothing. McCree was already fully dressed around and ready for the sim as he rested his back against the lockers along the wall next to Jack's open one.

McCree hummed in thought as Jack pulled on his black, skin tight bodysuit. Gabriel felt his face grow warm as he watched Jack step into the leg portion of his bodysuit, noticing how aesthetically pleasing Jack’s synthetic muscles that wrapped around the metal of his frame. He never really appreciated the detail that went into building the body for an omnic to be capable of keeping pace with him and it had him thinking that Jack could have had a much bulkier frame similar to the Bastion they jerry rigged in Indiana to bring him on board. Other than his huge chest and shoulders, he had the legs of a seasoned runner - not bad by Gabriel’s standard but found curve of his ass to be a bit subpar.

Gabriel pulled away from the edge of the lockers and frowned as he headed back to his locker to get changed around. They didn't build Jack to be attractive, the built his body to be a weapon capable of destroying his own kind. Appreciating its functionality was one thing but wishing anything more cosmetic was pointless and borderline objectifying his friend’s body. Jesse and Jack left the locker room to go out to the simulation’s prep hall and Gabriel quickly got dressed around into his own suit before closing his locker to head out as well.

\--

Jack found himself admiring the way the tight black body suit hugged Gabriel's body, paying a bit more attention to his legs and gluteus maximus. Jesse mentioned off hand yesterday that it was what most people found to be physically attractive about the Strike Commander when Jack asked him. He wanted to know what people liked in Gabriel as a potential mate and the physical factors were usually that along with the scent he gave off during heat. Jesse made a very important point that the guy had an aura that made him seem unapproachable at times with how abrasive he could be when he thought someone’s idea falling into the ‘fucking dumb’ spectrum, as Gabriel would put it. Jack found Gabriel's passion to be very magnetic, he wasn't afraid of going against the grain and brushing shoulders with others to guide them all down the best path he thought possible. It was why he was still alive and working with humanity to end the crisis by his side.

McCree playfully elbowed Jack’s side to draw his attention, giving Jack a mischievous grin as he waggled his brows in a suggestive manner while Gabriel climbed the steps up to the podium. The arena laid right behind him with a huge screen above him, that was currently displaying the UN logo at the moment, and all soldier saluted the commander in synchronization as he stood behind the podium with his arms pressed behind his back. Gabriel nodded in acknowledgement of their salute, allowing them all to drop their hands back by their sides as they stayed in attention.

“Alright, I’ll make this quick since you have all done simulations here in some capacity and anyone next to you can fill you in fast if you need a refresher.” Gabriel started off, brushing off the usual synopsis any other officer would give and earning smirks from everyone in the crowd for a moment at that. “Athena?” He signaled the AI, the screen behind him switching to show that of the environment that would be used for the simulation: a rural, small town that had a run-down school, and streets lined with small buildings along with a shit ton of long grass - a town that had been abandoned for a large number of years in the countryside. 

“Same rules as usual; we’ll all be separated into two teams and the first team to completely annihilate the other or capture all the objects before the other in two hours wins. The teams were picked at random by Athena and here’s who is on what team.” The was white text overlaying the footage of the simulation area showing exactly that resulted in heavy groaning from the crowd. “Quit your whining, I realized how stacked team one is with Morrison and I on it, so, team two will be given several advantages to even out the odds starting out with a ten minute head start to scout out sniping locations and looking for the beacons that will give you clues on where the objects are. The second advantage will be Morrison and I having fifty points of health cut out of our usual health bar totals to give us two hundred points each, putting us at KIA if your snipers can land a headshot.” Gabriel finished explaining, pacifying team two easily with those two huge handicaps against team one. “With that said, both teams will have fifteen minutes to prep and come up with a plan before the simulation begins with team two getting their ten minute head start. Also, no one is permitted to detonate their weapons nor use unauthorized firearms in this exercise. Laser tag is laser tag. Got it?”

“Sir!” They all saluted before Gabriel dismissed them and began stepping down from the podium to head to the team one suit up room. Jack said his goodbyes to McCree and moved to catch up to Gabriel as they entered the room, walking together to their lockers that were coincidentally next to each other here judging from the digital nameplates. The large lockers opened up when the scanner verified that the correct user was in front of it, containing their chest armor, and an ordering panel embedded into the door of the locker to let them select what weapon they wished to use after removing the armor.

Jack took out his armor and started to attach it piece by piece, using the clasps to lock the two halves together before proceeding to order his pulse rifle variant with his silicon thumb. “So, I couldn’t help but notice you making a deal about detonating weapons earlier when you were on the podium...” Jack started off, wanting to be scolded now for that incident rather than after the simulation when he would rather talk about… more personal things with Gabriel.

Gabriel had his armor on and was in the process of removing the two shotguns along with the provided hip holster from the case that replaced the armor stand in the back of the locker. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that, Jack?” He huffed as he started pulling on the leather of the holsters, Jack watching as the man beside him tightened the straps to hug his hips and thighs in a rather appealing manner. The bulging muscles under the body suit were just as nice to look at but Jack quickly tensed up when he glanced up to see Gabriel staring at him with a quirked brow. “See something wrong down there?” He asked curiously as he turned to check out his own leg to see if there was a tear in the body suit or something.

Jack wanted to quickly clarify that there wasn’t anything wrong and drop the conversation but remembered his ‘training’ with McCree the other day. “I think everything is more than alright there.” He tried, making Gabriel glance up at him as one set of Jack's pistons popped on his shoulders, the suit customized to allow his pistons to fully extend through the holes woven.

Gabriel seemed even more perplexed as he looked at how tense Jack was before that expression turned into an amused grin. He then turned back to his locker to remove the shotguns and place them casually in his holsters before closing the locker door with ease. Gabriel moved then to Jack’s side, casually throwing an arm over Jack’s shoulder like he usually does before leaning forward and whispering in Jack’s left auditory port. “If you think they look good like that, Jackie, then maybe I could show you some really fitting clothes I have when we’re done here.” He teased before taking a small sniff of Jack’s neck. “Might want to tell McCree to ease up on accidental scenting though.” Gabriel added before casually taking his arm off Jack and humming a Metallica song as he walked past the partition to go into the planning chamber.

All of Jack’s pistons popped at once as he finished processing and translating all of that a good long moment after Gabriel walked away, visible white steam venting out in plumes. 

Holy fuck! Did Gabriel just FLIRT with him?!?!

Jack had his hands up and holding his cheeks as all of his bio signs were flashing green with plenty of bells and whistles going off in his internal systems. He had to check and double check that this file and all of the sensations from Gabriel’s arm weight on his shoulder to the audio files of the conversation were duplicated and saved on every single hard drive he had. If this was what ‘cloud nine’ was like then Jack was probably on ‘cloud 10’ from how stupidly happy he was. Oh, if only McCree had his phone on him! He could send him a quick message and tell his friend about what happened! Hell, he needed to tell Ana and Reinhardt once the simulation was over! They would be so ecstatic!

“Hey, Morrison!”

Jack paused in updating his internal ‘to do list’ as he looked over at the woman trying to get his attention behind the partition. 

“Yes?” He asked intelligently, fully aware now of his blanking out on his surroundings.

“We’re starting the planning, get your ass into gear.” She ordered before turning and heading back into the planning room.

Jack’s pistons snapped back into his shoulder as he quickly scrambled to take out his pulse rifle and closed the door to his locker. He was the last one in the planning room and had to stand in the back as Gabriel started the strategy meeting now that Jack was finally there. Jack could have sworn Gabriel had a smug grin on his lips for a second before he shifted to his usual professional self.

“Alright, everyone! Now that we’re all finally here we can get started.” Gabriel started off as he tapped a hologram screen projected next to him, showing the list of everyone on team two. “Although team two whined about the rosters they are the ones with both snipers, other than Amari, and the sharp shooter, Jesse McCree. Ten minutes might seem like a lot of time but everyone know better than to expect the props and buildings to be in the same place or even on the same floor, so, they’re going in just as blind as we will be just with more setup time. Morrison and I will be unable to tank a free headshot like we usually can with our health handicaps being in place so don’t expect us to play decoys.” He huffed, much to everyone else’s disappointment. “Anyways, we’ll split our team into three squads to fan out on the floors. Morrison and I will handle the scouting on the second floor while the other two teams will scout out the first one-”

Jack started phasing out from there now that he knew he was going to be paired up with Gabriel and just them alone on the second floor. His mind was calculating all of the possibilities of why Gabriel wanted it to be just the two of them in a non-professional manner, especially if Jack correctly interpreted Gabriel’s earlier statement to flirtatious. A pair of pistons popped open to let out some warm air from his core as he thought about the pornographic website and all of those tags people actually searched for human and omnic relationships. They then quickly snapped back into his shoulders as he realized that metal and delicate human membranes probably wouldn’t feel too good without a buffer or something. He felt disappointed as he realized that physical contact beyond their usual interactions probably wouldn’t occur. Gabriel hadn’t even told him if straight out if he was interested in pursuing a relationship with him or not! He needed to get his expectations back into reasonable territory and fast.

“Jack?”

Jack looked as he saw that the meeting was over and glanced up at the countdown time on the wall display showing that they had five minutes before the match would start. He then glanced at Gabriel, who was standing in front of him and waving a hand in front of his face with a concerned look.

“Everything green with your systems there?” Gabriel asked as he started walking around Jack to take a look at him.

“Y-yeah. Just had my ‘heads in the clouds’, as they say.” Jack chuckled nervously, watching as Gabriel still continued to look him over critically until he paused for a moment and looked at Jack with a quirked brow.

“Are you seriously admitting to your commanding officer that you were spacing out while I was giving mission detail?” Gabriel asked incredulously before smirking in amusement as he punched Jack's synthetic arm muscles in a friendly manner. “You unbelievable ass!”

Jack felt relieved hearing Gabriel joke around like that as he chuckled in response. “I could say the same about yours.” He whispered back, enjoying the look on Gabriel’s face as his eyes widened in surprise and he hit him once more in the arm for good measure when he rolled his eyes.

“Later, Jackie…” Gabriel muttered under his breathed as threw his arm over Jack’s shoulder to practically drag him over to the monitor and give him a quick run down on the overall plan with the holoscreen. 

\--

Throughout their entire interaction in the preparation room, Gabriel kept asking himself if he was comfortable with flirting back with Jack on any particular suggestive statement. He wanted to make sure he was fine with letting on the idea to Jack that he might be comfortable with letting him see the side of him he was more nervous about confessing to and actually felt really satisfied by doing so afterwards. Jack was adorable when he popped all of his pistons and unconsciously mimicking how Reinhardt expresses his glee by pressing his hands to his cheeks.

Gabriel was a bit wary smelling Jesse McCree all over Jack’s body but that earlier discussion of McCree trying to identify Jack’s ‘scent’ raised a lot of curious questions that even Gabriel hadn’t considered before in regards to omnics. If Jack was curious and felt comfortable exploring his place on the spectrum with McCree then he should encourage it by not letting omega possessive behaviors tug at the back of his mind. Besides, it made sense that McCree’s scent would be all over Jack since none of the very physically affectionate members of their group, like Reinhardt, were around to dilute the scent. The fact that McCree’s smell was more suppressed was a sign of a ‘camaraderie’ scenting that anything possessive.

He felt a smug grin on his face as now Jack’s suit and neck would have his own scent mark on the omnic. 

“Gabe.” 

Jack whispered quietly, crouched down next to Gabriel as they hid in the tall grass together, the environmental simulation ‘folding’ the holograms of the grass where their feet were while the light breeze being simulated in the field created the waves in the grass like one would expect in real life. They were up on the second floor of the simulation arena and hiding in the meadow that led to some abandoned farms where Gabriel would guess that team two sent some of their marksmen to.

“Yeah?” Gabriel whispered back as the rustling of the grass and wind being generated effectively covered up their conversation while they sat together with their weapons at the ready in case of an ambush.

“About earlier… um…”

Gabriel felt his heart start to race as he mind tried to figure out what ‘earlier’ was making Jack anxious. “Going to have to be a bit more specific than that, Jackie.” He was so glad their comms were muted at the moment so no one else on the team could hear them talk.

Jack fidgeted nervously before looking back over at Gabriel. “Can I- Were you flirting with me in the suit up room…?” He asked meekly. “I was trying to flirt with you but I don’t know if you were just trying to lead me on or just playing along…”

Gabriel’s mouth moved before he could think, his heart up in his throat in panic. “I flirted back! I wouldn’t do something as cruel like leading you around, Jackie!” He whispered back harshly to make sure Jack knew he was being completely serious.

All of Jack’s pistons popped almost comedically out of his shoulders, a large puff of white smoke pouring out from his chest cavity as Gabriel could practically hear his internal fans overclocking inside. Gabriel felt his face burn as well but neither said anything while they sat there staring at each other. He quickly realized that anyone with a scope might have seen the release of steam and grabbed Jack’s arm.

“We gotta move.” 

Jack nodded his head and they moved as quietly as possible through the tall grass. His pistons snapped closed after a few moments but were barely audible to even Gabriel as he led Jack over to a stack of hay bales to duck behind. There was no sight or sound of anyone coming from the roof of the barn that was maybe a good ten feet from their hiding spot.

“Anything on infrared, Jackie?” Gabriel whispered curiously, watching as Jack took a careful peek around the hay stack for a few moment before pressing his back against the hay again when he looked over at Gabriel.

“Negative.”

Gabriel lightly clicked his tongue at that. “Figures it wouldn’t be that easy.” He grumbled before scooting over the right side corner to peek around it since Jack looked out at the left side. Team two wouldn’t be dumb enough to have patrols looking for them out in the open since Jack had infrared sight built into his optical sensors but that could just mean they were lying low and waiting for an ambush. 

While Gabe didn’t have several of the technological features Jack had, SEP did give him heightened senses, allowing him to see the glint of a scope and the gun attached to it peeking out behind a barrel right up against the barn. Luckily, the camper didn’t see him as he was looking out down the right side of the field rather than down the middle at the moment when Gabriel pulled back. Jack watched him as he signaled out the enemy’s position with handsigns and nodded his head in acknowledgement of the information. Jack signaled with his own hands that he would cover Gabriel if he went to take out the camper and Gabriel agreed to the plan. Athena cuts comm access the moment someone’s health reaches zero so that stealth acts can be effective as well in the simulation. 

Jack shuffled over to Gabriel’s side, pulse rifle at the ready as Gabriel counted down from three with his fingers. Gabriel then slipped out from cover and quietly went from cover to cover before hopping over the barrel and quickly slipping his hand over the guard’s mouth as he pinned him in place with his body, allowing Jack to easily land a headshot on the guy after Gabriel dragged him out from cover.

“Team two’s agent Johnson has been eliminated from play. Please exit the simulation.” Athena announced over the intercom.

Gabriel let the grouchy man’s mouth go once Jack had finished sweeping the inside of the barn and let them get up. Johnson left to follow the beacon Athena sent to guide him to the exit and Gabriel follow after Jack into the barn. There wasn’t much in there except for simulated hay stacks and stalls for horses like you would probably expect. Jack was inside one of the stalls and squatting down as he found one of the information hubs marked by a holographic card floating just barely off the ground. Gabriel entered the stall and shut the door behind him, crouching down next to Jack as he regarded his friend curiously.

“What’s the hint?” Gabriel whispered to Jack.

Jack held up his scanning device and showed Gabriel the coordinates the hologram revealed to him. Gabriel quirked a brow at the rather… direct ‘hint’ and was instantly skeptical of it.

“You think Athena…?”

“Is toying around with the hints? Yes. When doesn’t she?” Jack replied as he let out a heavy sigh. “Should I stand watch while you ping the hint to the others?”

“Please.” Gabriel smiled, watching as Jack got up from his crouch and moved over to the stall door while Gabe pressed his finger to the commlink in his ear. “Squads one and two, this is squad three reporting in. Found a hint upstairs and it’s a coordinate instead of some vague scrambled text we have to decode.” Gabriel then spoke the coordinates. “Squad three, over and out.” He took his finger off the comm’s call button and glanced over at Jack, watching the omnic give him a thumbs up for an ‘all clear’ sign before Gabriel waved for him to come back over.

Jack crouched back down next to him, their shoulders pressing together as Gabriel gave his friend a warm smile. “Alright. Since no one came running while I was making that page then we can assume the area is temporarily clear.” Gabriel remarked quietly, Jack nodding his head in acknowledgment, his head still in the game while Gabriel’s was a bit elsewhere as he leaned in closer towards Jack. “There’s no one here to disturb us, Jackie.” He whispered suggestively in Jack’s ear while moving his hand to Jack’s thigh and just letting it rest there, letting Jack slowly pick up on Gabriel’s meaning. 

Two pairs of pistons popped on Jack’s shoulders, Gabriel felt himself smile even more so as he felt the warm arm venting out heat up his own. 

“I-Isn’t this kind of- Right here?” Jack whispered, his voice barely hiding the excited glee in his synthetic voice. “You want me, Gabriel Reyes?”

Gabriel brought his hands up to cup both sides of his friend’s face plate and felt his heart swell so wonderfully for the words coming from his own lips. “Yes. I want to try being with you, Jack Morrison.”

All of Jack’s pistons popped out, the fans inside of his chest plate practically roaring as Jack trembled under Gabriel’s fingertips. Gabriel had only really seen Jack become overwhelmed maybe twice in the time that he knew him but he knew not to panic as much as he wanted to. He merely moved so he was squatting in front of Jack since the stream generation was becoming a bit too uncomfortable but kept his hands on Jack’s faceplate the entire move.

“Me…? You really want to…?” Jack asked, his voice quivering and disoriented in a way that had Gabriel on the verge of tears from how happy he was in this moment to hear Jack speak.

“Yes, Jackie.” Gabriel chuckled fondly as he leaned forward to affectionately press his forehead against Jack’s. “I very much do want to date you.” He reassured his steaming partner.

Click.

Both Jack and Gabriel instantly went for their weapons, aiming for the source of the sound that distributed their moment coming from the rafters above them. A blur of a cowboy hat was all they saw before it vanished behind the rafter and Gabriel’s face was a flushing mess as he got up on his feet, absolutely furious while Jack was wondering how McCree was even quiet enough for his audio sensors to not hear him above them the whole time.

“SHOW YOUR FUCKING FACE, MCCREE!” Gabriel demanded as he kicked out the stall door, trying to get a bead on the motherfucker that was a good ten feet out of his reach to strangle above them. “I FUCKING DARE YOU!”

McCree cleared his throat before making barn owl noises, Jack absolutely floored by the absurdity of Jesse trying to convince them that there was a fucking owl in the ‘barn’ of a very tightly controlled simulation environment. “Whoo whoo-OW! JESUS CHRIST!!” 

Gabriel hit McCree with one of his shotguns he hurled upwards into the rafters and suddenly there was a pair of hands and boots clinging around the large wooden structure to keep McCree from falling off when he was thrown off balance from the impact. The shotgun landed on the hard surface with a clatter and Gabriel immediately stomped right over to pick it up, moving to the other side of the rafter to line up another throw from below.

“Jack! Jack, don’t let hit beat me up like this!” Jesse pleaded and whined to his friend pathetically.

“You have A LOT of fucking nerve trying to get him to bail you out, Shit-For-Brains!” Gabriel growled as he drove his foot into the ground and hurled the hard plastic shotgun, hitting McCree’s leg hard enough to make the cowboy let out a loud cry from the pain. “Come down here, right now!”

“G-Gabriel…” Jack finally got up from where he was crouched and pushed the stall door open as he carried his pulse rifle in his other arm. “This is a bit excessive.” He tried to placate the fuming Strike Commander as he went to grab the heavy dented shotgun off the ground. When Gabriel ignored him to line up another throw again, Jack flat out shot Jesse in the head with his rifle’s laser when Jesse looked over the side of the rafter for a quick second, making both men stop and stare at Jack. Athena then announced Jesse’s elimination from the simulation over the loudspeaker and asked him to exit the area as an escort beacon flew into the barn. “Seriously, Gabriel. You’re his commander, hitting him because you’re embarrassed is not the Gabriel Reyes I love and respect.”

Gabriel scowled at Jack, McCree scrambling to climb down and out the window he likely used to get up there in the first place. He sighed and looked at the beaten up piece of plastic in his hand but seemed relieved to hear McCree dashing away from the barn, meaning he hadn’t done any real damage to the idiot who caught him in an intimate moment. “Yeah. I’ll apologize to him after the sim. Wasn’t right of me to act childish when I’m suppose to be his superior…” Gabriel tucked his shotgun back into his side holster before running a hand over his beanie, still feeling ashamed of what he had done. “It’s just been a long time since I was caught like that… I thought I was being careful.”

Jack walked over to Gabriel and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’ll do the right thing, Gabe. I’m pretty sure Jesse won’t go ratting us out to everyone else, regardless if he took a picture.”

Gabriel wasn’t too sure about that as he frowned at Jack. Jack knew McCree better than Gabriel did but it would be so easy to undermine everything they had worked for if McCree turned out to be someone Jack misplaced his faith in. Jack didn’t have a lot of friends and it would be so easy for someone to act like they’re eager for friendship with him just to throw him under the bus.

“You really sure that McCree won’t cause us problems with having proof, Jack? You spent three days with him but do you really think he won’t try to blackmail you or something? What if he secretly hates omnics?” Gabriel asked delicately as he leaned back against one of the barn’s support beams, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m scared for you, Jackie. I can’t weed every bad person out of this organization if they’re really good at hiding their intentions…”

Jack was quiet for a long moment as he considered what Gabriel was telling him or at least Gabriel was hoping he was doing so. He is a god program still learning the subtleties of human interaction, including the uglier side that Jack encountered head on not even that long after he was brought on board. It terrified Gabriel to think that someone could be as cruel as to be pulling a possible long con on Jack.

“Isn’t that kind of the point of trust though, Gabe? To confide in someone enough that you feel a stronger bond with them?” Jack asked sincerely. “Yes, I am aware that not everyone is deserving of my trust and that I’m still afraid of getting hurt. I want to be optimistic about McCree though. He has put himself in a position opposite of others several times to defend me and I think that deserves something in return.” He looked at Gabriel, probably hoping to show how serious he was about this without being able to show facial expressions. “I’ll kick his ass if he is secretly an asshole, Gabe. I won’t tolerate anyone thinking I will just let them toy with my feelings because I am an omnic.”

Gabriel felt himself let out a heavy sigh of relief at that and reached up to cover the hand Jack had on his shoulder with his own, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Good. That resolve, not necessarily the violent resolution, though, will help you navigate the world where there are genuinely good people out there that want to get to know you, Jackie.” He smiled warmly. “Don’t associate with people who want you to feel like shit. Friends are suppose to improve your quality of life, even with the ups and downs that come with them being human at the end of the day. Mistakes will be made but it up to you to decide if those mistakes, and their frequency to repeat, are worth maintaining a friendship.”

Jack nodded his head in understanding as his pistons slowly clicked closed on his shoulders. “It’s things like this that you say, out loud and without hesitation, that makes me admire you so much, Gabe. Ana and Reinhardt are the same way and it brings those kinds of people to you, like a campfire in the woods.” He chuckled softly as Gabriel’s face started to burn up at the reference to his ‘scent’. “I’m a bit envious of those around you that get to experience all of you just by being nearby. I like to think I’m very close to you but I’m afraid of failing both you and myself in thinking that something between us can work out beyond just being friends.” 

Jack looked off to the side for a moment before turning his gaze downwards. “Jesse’s scent being all over me is kind of accidental, now that I think about what you said in the suit up room. We’re experimenting to see if I can accumulate various scents from my daily surroundings to claim as my own unique scent since omnics can’t biologically produce their own. It’s one of the bigger walls that seems so intimidating to scale when humans do it without even thinking. Will I look like an idiot trying to claim something that isn’t produced from my own body? Will it be useless anyways since I can’t easily ‘mark’ something with my scent to claim it as my own?”

“Jackie…” Gabriel hadn’t honestly thought about it from that kind of a perspective before. He was only trying to tease Jack back in the suit up room since he wasn’t offended at all by the logical reason McCree’s scent was on him. Gabriel felt himself smile at how thoughtful this all was and how it was helping Jack cope with the world that seemed to just want to exclude him further by him thinking up solutions to bridge the gap. “If you want a second partner on this endeavour of yours, I think I would enjoy helping you out.”

Jack’s head shot up as he looked at Gabriel. “... Really?” He asked with such a trembling voice that Gabriel couldn’t help but brush his thumbs affectionately over the bumps where Jack’s cheek bones would be.

“If you think my assistance will be of help, then, yes, I want to help you in whatever way I can, Jackie.”

Jack takes his hand off Gabriel’s shoulder and hugs him the best he can with their chest pieces getting in the way. Gabriel chuckles happily at the embrace and reciprocates the best as he can as well, finding himself wanting to bury his face in Jack’s neck but sadly chest plate blocked. He wanted this to work out between them, Jack and himself, no matter what crazy shit McCree and them come up with to try to find middle ground between human and omnic. There had to be others other there in the world that were on the omega spectrum and head-over-heels for an omnic as well. Hell, there WAS a porn site dedicated to it if Jack wasn’t pulling his leg earlier and he shamefully realized he might have to ask Jack what the URL was to sate his curiosity as well.

He was going to have to put in time to try to make this work, even when his schedule was busy enough with saving the world as it was. Jack deserved to have at least an hour of Gabriel’s time spent to helping him out with his ordeals and try to help see them through. He had given up so much to join Gabriel that it was time that he put in the time to help Jack as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for cutting off the last chapter with just jack's perspective but hopefully you guys will think more of Gabriel now that they're gonna give the relationship a try!
> 
> Please leave a review for me if you liked the execution or think that it could have been better if I did something differently! I answer all reviews no matter what!


	7. Getting to know you better

Jack was nervous as he sat on Gabriel’s couch, wearing his two day old clothing after they changed and walked back to Gabriel’s room after the simulation was done. Their team didn’t win since they were too distracted to care and Jack very much wanted Gabriel’s opinion on the scent experiment they were doing, even if there was a likelihood of Jesse’s scent stinking up the results. Gabriel came out of his private bathroom in a pair of sweatpants and a towel over his shoulders after he finished showering off. He smirked in amusement when a pair of pistons popped out of Jack’s shoulders and stretched the fabric of his T-shirt to its limits to accommodate their intrusion.

“Don’t be so nervous, Jackie. It’s just us.” Gabriel reassured Jack as he walked over, completely bare chested and sat down on the couch next to him.

“I know, but, I’m nervous of what your opinion will be.” Jack admitted.

“I did say ‘yes’ to use trying this out, Jackie. You make it seem like I will run the other way if something is off.” Gabriel smiled as he tried to help ease Jack’s worries. “Confidence is very attractive and you do have that in spades.”

Jack sighed as he let his shoulders slack for a moment. “Yeah, I know.” The pistons slid back into their slots as Jack turned to face his body towards Gabriel. “I’m ready for your evaluation.” He spoke confidently, making Gabriel grin in a pleasing manner before he nodded his head. 

“Alright. I’ll do my best here.” Gabriel spoke before climbing into Jack’s lap, smirking in amusement as his partner tensed up and straddled him. Jack was as quiet as the grave as Gabriel leaned in towards his neck, his hands bracing against Jack’s chest gently, and took a slow whiff of the scent that accumulated there.

-

The first scent that hit Gabriel was that pungent alpha smell that seemed to coat over everything else, demanding it be acknowledged even if the alpha in question didn’t mean for it to be there. Jealousy pooled in Gabriel’s gut instinctively, the omega in him not enjoying one bit that Jack had an alpha’s scent on him, that anyone’s scent was on Jack and not his own. It was easily quelled by Gabriel focusing on what was reality and not what his hormones were telling him. 

“Gabriel?” Jack asked quietly, still patiently awaiting some kind of response from him.

“One second. McCree’s scent is muddying things up a bit here.”

“Okay.”

Gabriel smiled, happy that Jack was understanding as Gabriel leaned in again and practically pressed his nose to the juncture between Jack’s neck and shoulders where the scent would be most potent for anyone on the spectrum. It was where the mating mark would be if Jack had flesh…

“I smell something like…” Gabriel paused as he tried to figure out what was what on Jack’s scent. “Laundry detergent… the stuff they use to clean the mats… and the cleaning solution for your parts?” He was to tempted to nuzzle his face into Jack’s neck. It wasn't fair.

Gabriel quirked a brow for a moment as he felt Jack’s hands wrap around his waist in a lazy hold before pulling away from his neck to see Jack looking at him. “What?” He found himself reflexively asking.

“This okay?” 

“Yeah. I don't mind you holding me.” Gabriel remarked casually before tensing up. “Shit, I didn't ask for your permission to sit in your lap.” He brought a hand to his face as he let out a frustrated groan.

“I didn't mind. ‘Confidence is attractive’, right?” Jack chuckled in amusement as Gabriel pulled his hand away from his face and gave Jack a deadpan look at that timely quotation he made. “Relax, Gabe. I’ll tell you if I'm not comfortable with something, alright?”

Gabriel raised a brow at Jack skeptically. “You sure? Cause my problem with that line of logic is that you’re so eager to please that you’ll try to trick yourself into saying something is fine when it really isn’t, Jackie.”

Jack paused at that for a moment before shaking his head. “Try kissing me then.” He challenged.

Gabriel eyebrow shot way up as he looked at Jack in surprise. He was going to prove his comfort zone by rejecting a kiss? The commander felt disappointed in thinking that Jack wouldn't want a kiss when three days ago he was all but ready to be his mate during his heat. Gabriel quickly scolded himself and declared it wasn't just up to him to decide the pace they would go at it with this. It was a joint effort and an ideally slow one as well.

“Alright. Let’s try it then.” Gabriel spoke, casually leaning forward and slowly inching in closer to Jack’s face plate. He was waiting for Jack to tell him to stop, especially when he was now close enough to see the fog of his breath on the bottom portion where Jack’s lips would be if he was human. Gabriel felt his face start to heat up as he lingered so close to Jack for them to kiss if he moved just a hair forward and still Jack stayed silent.

“Hey… Jackie…?” Gabriel asked hesitantly as he rested his hands on Jack’s shoulders.

“Hm?” 

“You- you’re leaving me hanging here, Buddy...” Gabriel felt himself whisper from how embarrassing it was to be put into limbo over what was suppose to be a demonstration of Jack rejecting an advance. Was he toying with him on this?

“Gabriel, I don't think you realize that I’m not stopping you for a reason.” Jack spoke sincerely, making Gabriel’s throat tighten up and his face burn from how hard he was flushing.

“Christ, Jackie, now’s not the time to be a suave asshole!” Gabriel complained as he scowled at Jack as he backed up, still burning up all over from how good Jack got him. He was too clever for his own good sometimes but that kind of impulsive behavior was what really made Jack stand out to Gabriel from the beginning even back when they first did their email exchange two years ago.

“Me being a smartass aside, Gabe, I’m seriously not going to let you boss my ass around. I want you and have wanted you for a long time now.” Jack confessed as Gabriel glance back over at him, feeling Jack pull him closer to his body until their chests were pressed up against the other’s. “We'll take our time and figure shit out but I’m telling you the truth, alright?”

Gabriel frowned at that, not really feeling convinced but didn't see any reason to not trust Jack with his own comfort zone. “I’ll do a better job of asking before doing, okay? I want to hear you tell me that it’s okay because I want you to enjoy this relationship WITH me. Got it? It shouldn't always be about me.”

“Loud and clear, Gabe. It's a two-way street, right?” Jack asked sweetly, making Gabriel smile in response.

“Yep.”

Jack chuckled in amusement as he leaned forward towards Gabriel and pressed his forehead against the other man’s. Gabriel closed his eyes as he leaned forward against the affection Jack was giving him. It felt so nice to be close to someone after spending years on the frontline as Strike Commander, not even considering the people under him in the organization to be possible dating prospects until Jack stepped forward. They were all soldiers to him and so long as his heat was being satisfied then he would be able to function competently, even as an omega.

“I’m sorry for keeping you in limbo for so long, Jackie.” Gabriel admitted, enjoying how warm Jack was, even if his lap could be more comfortable if he considered asking Jack to switch to his cqc mode to overlay more muscle fibers on his body. “I just really wanted to be one hundred percent sure I wanted this.”

Jack hummed in response. “I know. It was really hard waiting the three days out but I’m glad it gave you enough time to think it through.” He chuckled sheepishly. “I’ll admit, it took a lot of courage to even get in line with those alphas and betas. I chickened out once or twice before…”

Gabriel’s eyes widened at that. “Seriously?”

“Y-Yeah.” Jack admitted, looking away for a moment. “Didn’t help the last time you had your heat I was out on a mission. I was looking forward to confessing then.”

Gabriel smiled fondly at that. “Didn’t think I had your interest for that long, Jackie.”

“Well… It took a lot to figure out if I really wanted to be more than friends with you.”

“I’m glad you did, to be honest.” Gabriel reassured him as they held each other, the conversation lessening into a comfortable silence while they just enjoyed each other’s company. Eventually, Gabriel’s commlink pinged and he had to remove himself from Jack, them both going their own ways in a satisfied manner after they walked out of the room. 

\--

Jack had managed to convince Gabriel to spend his Sunday off with him and Jesse in McCree's room. Jesse was rather relaxed with the Strike Commander being in his room, even when Gabriel visibly cringed at the sight of Jesse’s cluttered floor. Jack was rather impressed with Gabriel not chewing out the officer and instead plopped down next to him against the bed. Gabriel then unfolded a quilt he had brought with him and wrapped it around both of their shoulders before snuggling in to get comfortable against Jack’s shoulder. It was buffered with addition muscle fibers since Jack’s frame was currently in cqc mode.

McCree was busy browsing on his tablet while occasionally looking up to glance at the movie they were watching on Jesse’s laptop. Gabriel ended up falling asleep not even ten minutes into the movie and Jack found it rather adorable to see the Strike Commander snoozing softly against him. They hadn't had a lot of time to spend time together privately after that conversation earlier in the week. A big omnium raid was coming up and the UN wanted to know everything that was going on regarding it, making it difficult to do more than say ‘hi’ to Gabriel in the hallway. It was no surprise that the man was bone tired but still didn't shoot down the movie offer, even if he did end up falling asleep anyways.

“Aww.” McCree quietly cooed as he peaked over at them both while he laid stretched out on his bed. Jack looked from the laptop to Jesse to see a fond smile on the sharpshooter’s face as he watched Gabriel catching some sleep against Jack’s shoulder. The quilt was half wrapped around the dozing commander as he held what he had against himself firmly, like he was afraid it would be pulled away if he let up on his grip just a bit.

Jesse had sent the photo he took of Jack and Gabriel to both of them before Gabriel deleted it fully from McCree’s phone when he went to apologize. Jack had it copied and stored away into his internal harddrives, not wanting to lose the aerial photo of them both pressing their foreheads together in the stall - the relaxed image of Gabriel's rare smile forever imprinted into Jack’s memory.

Jack was careful to not move his shoulder as he brought his hand up to hold a finger to where his lips would be to keep McCree quiet. The cowboy gave him a playful wink before turning his attention back to the tablet on the bed before him. Jack let his hand rest on his lap as his gaze went back to the movie, always eager to learn more pop culture and study the actors’ body language. Anything he could pick up was always useful in one way or another, even if it was Ana and Gabriel’s body language he liked seeing and mimicking the most.

When the movie was over, Jesse switched the laptop to just play a classic rock internet radio station before scooping up his tablet to sit down next to Jack on the unoccupied side. He propped up his tablet on his knees for Jack to look at after bringing them up to his chest, the web page featuring ‘luxury add-ons’ and omnics posed in sensual positions to display said ‘add-ons’. 

What were the ‘add-ons’? Robotic parts that replicated human sexual anatomy, including the penis and vagina. 

“Oh!” Jack spoke in excitement as he watched Jesse scroll through the huge variety of models and how they looked on omnics in a textbook display rather than anything lewd. The website was actually very tasteful in how it presented the products like one would with actual luxury items and there was a sophisticated menu that would allow omnics to narrow down their search results depending on many different variables. Jesse passed the tablet to Jack and watched as Jack started checking off boxes in the search menu before watching as a product that fit that criteria popped up right in front of him with all the nitty-gritty specs and features.

“Yeah. I figured this might be a good place to start lookin’ into fer ya since the commander hasn’t taken the internet restriction of ya yet.” Jesse whispered to Jack as he glanced over at Gabriel, still sleeping like a log against Jack’s shoulder. He brought a hand up to cover his mouth as he snickered before looking up at Jack. “He’s completely out of it. An’ here I thought the Strike Commander was some literal superhero who never stops working.”

Jack nodded his head at that. “I honestly thought he would wake up the moment you got off the bed. It’s… kind of nice to see him being this comfortable around us to fall asleep. That or he’s so worn out that he doesn’t give a fuck.” He comments quietly in agreement with McCree.

Jesse smiles before looking at what product the search result pulled up for Jack before giving the omnic an amused grin. “What’s this now? ‘Dual function - be the alpha and the omega for your partner’, ‘Penis can simulate both an orgasm and a knot inflation on demand’, an’ ‘Sheath is self-lubricating and able to simulate an orgasm’. Damn, that’s a fine package, if ya ask me.” McCree grinned as Jack continued to scroll downwards before the smile was smacked right off the cowboy’s face when he looked at the price tag. “Holy shit. You can buy two new cars with that kind of dough they’re askin’ fer!” He hissed softly to Jack as the omnic let out a quiet groan of disappointment.

“Maybe going for a deluxe dual package is suppose to be that expensive.” Jack remarked as he scrolled back up to the menu and reduced all the extra features so it would just display the ‘standard’ products. McCree frowned with Jack as the products were still in the price range of ten thousand plus credits.

“Ya gotta be kiddin’ me. Maybe it’s just this particular manufacturer that makes Bentley-tier goods fer omnics.” Jesse offered as Jack handed him back the tablet and he went to his preferred search engine to start looking for other alternatives. Jack watched as Jesse went through a few manufacturer websites that were slightly cheaper than the one they started on before looking up organizations/support groups for omnics looking for the add-ons. 

“Oh… they actually have to have you mail your groin so they can custom-fit and wield it all together, so, you have to have a spare beforehand.” Jack remarked quietly as he and Jesse read through the various support group forums, especially the ones where omnics give a play-by-play of what they go through to get these procedures done. “... Can take anywhere from three weeks to a month and a half to get done before it’s mailed back then you have to have a specialist hook it back up. Then comes the software updates and maintenance training… This seems like a lot of money and time to dedicate towards.” He spoke quietly as Jesse nodded his head in agreement, looking just as troubled by this as Jack was.

“Would you be happier having that, Jack?” Gabriel asked, surprising both Jack and Jesse as they realized Gabriel was still resting up against Jack’s arm but looking at the tablet screen with them.

“Sorry, Boss, didn’t mean to wake ya.” Jesse chuckled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Eh. I happen to wake up when you guys were talking about something interesting.” Gabriel shrugged casually.

Jack thought about it for a few moments before shrugging his shoulders. “Just looking at my options for the first time. I’m not too emotionally invested in any particular thing right now, especially if it means sending parts of myself away when we’re in a war.”

Gabriel nodded his head at that and sat up, the imprint of Jack’s muscle fibers on the side of his face as Jesse had to look the other way not to laugh out loud. He rubbed the stiff side of his cheek before scooting in and looking at the tablet from a better angle. “Sounds reasonable. What else have you two researched?” 

Jack nudged Jesse lightly in the back, making the cowboy take the tablet from his hand so he could pull up the other websites he was looking at on Jack’s behalf. “Well, I’m the one mostly doin’ everythin’ since Jack ain’t allowed to do diddly squat with his net access privs.” Jesse remarked as he turned back towards Jack and Gabriel, still tapping away at the screen.

Gabriel rolled his eyes at that. “Unfortunately, that’s above my own ability since the UN is very skeptical of Jack, even after two years of proving them otherwise.” He remarked bitterly before lightening up. “I could lend you my personal tablet on Sundays, if you want, Jackie.” 

Jack perked up at that. “Really? You don’t want to use it on your one day off a week?”

“I spend most of my Sunday just sleeping in and letting Ana and Reinhardt come in so they can use my entertainment system to play video games.” Gabriel remarked shamelessly, while Jesse looked at him in complete disbelief.

“No way. Clark Kent here actually sleeps the day away on a Sunday?” Jesse asked incredulously as Gabriel shot him a scowl in response.

“What part of me is anything like Clark fucking Kent?”

McCree rolled his eyes sarcastically at that. “Fine, Steve Rogers.”

Gabriel groaned as he brought a palm to his forehead. “Picking you up and out of that diner was a mistake.”

Jack looked surprised at that bit of information before looking over at an oddly annoyed-looking McCree. “You were part of desert ops before you were recruited? That’s really impressive!” He happily remarked, Jesse’s eyes shooting wide open at Jack in perplexion before his face settled to a rather nervous-looking smile.

“Y-Yeah! Kind of?” Jesse sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as he looked off to the side before frowning and letting out a heavy sigh. “Nah, I ain’t gonna lie to ya, Jack… I ran a weapons trafficking operation in the American Southwest and Mexico.” He admitted bitterly as let his arms go lax on his sides. “Only reason I’m here is cause the Strike Commander thinks I can repay my debt to society by sticking it to the god programs on the front lines with my aim.”

Jack looked over at Gabriel and noticed that he wasn’t saying anything, just slowly looking from Jesse to Jack with pity on his face. He looked back at McCree and was stunned by the realization that his friend was a terrible person before he came to Zurich. No wonder Gabriel was nervous about Jack misplacing his trust in Jesse earlier. 

“Is that why you became my friend? To look better in front of Gabriel?” He asked, not really knowing what to do with the information or what it could imply about Jesse’s motives in befriending him.

“To back McCree up on this one, him being nice to you wouldn’t earn him time off of his sentencing, Jackie. I never even mentioned you to him before he came to HQ, if that’s what’s worrying you. Not even I can do much other than recruit him for the organization, to be honest.” Gabriel leveled with Jack, trying to reassure him that his friendship with Jesse probably wouldn’t benefit him at all outside of actually gaining a friend here.

Jack looked back at Gabriel, a bit skeptical about the whole thing. “You just recruited a guy, whose organization you busted, and didn’t bother asking if he liked omnics or not before bringing him here?”

“Now that I think ‘bout it, I don’t think the boss ever mentioned an omnic either.” McCree drawled as he scratched at his beard. “I just thought ya looked cool as fuck and wanted to see if you were just as intrestin’ to talk to as well!” He chuckled in amusement. 

“R-Really?” Jack asked incredulously as he looked over at Jesse.

“Yeah.” Jesse smiled with a lopsided. “Glad I went with my gut on it too.”

Jack fiddled his fingers together as he leaned into Gabriel, enjoying the way he chuckled in amusement to his sudden bashfulness as one pair of piston popped on his shoulders to let out a steady stream of warm air, stretching the fabric of his shirt. He wasn't used to being admired and it really felt quite wonderful to hear it from Jesse considering he admired him as well. “I.. I… What should I say to that?” Jack whispered to Gabriel as he looked to him for help. Gabriel was smiling so proudly at him and Jack fiddled his fingers even more urgently as he let out a strangled sound in frustration. “You’re not helping me by being quiet!” He practically whined.

Gabriel chuckled sweetly at Jack’s frustration, gently putting his arm over his shoulder to provide him some comfort. McCree was just looking at his tablet and pretending that he wasn't overhearing anything they were discussing. “What do you WANT to say to him, Jackie?” Gabe encouraged as he whispered back. “Take a moment and try to convert your feelings to words for him to understand.”

Jack’s pistons clicked back into place as he practically laid his head against Gabriel's shoulder, slowly racking his brain while his processors finally started to cool down a bit with an anchor in place. Gabriel wasn't pushing him away, hell, he seemed to be.encouraging the contact between them by rubbing his hand idly back and forth on his shoulder. His way of showing support maybe? 

When he finally figured out what he wanted to say, Jack hesitantly moved away from Gabriel's shoulder to sit up but not far enough where Gabe would have to take his arm off him. Jack looked at McCree, brown eyes curiously peeking over at him as he tried to keep up his poor facade of being interested in his tablet before Jack got his attention. “Jesse. I want to say that I appreciate you greatly and it makes me really happy to know you are my friend.”

Jesse’s eyes were brimmed with tears as he listened to Jack actually say the obvious, clearly touched by Jack’s honesty, even if the delivery was a bit preschooler-ish. He wiped the corners of his eyes and looked away as he sniffled hard. “Thanks, Partner.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, thanks for the all the support so far! Please leave a review if you enjoyed the new chapter!


	8. What We Are and Who I Was

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! Here's the next chapter!

Jack and Gabriel left soon after the discussion but not before Jack gave his friend a hug from behind since McCree was very adamant about people not actually seeing his face when he cries. Gabriel had his quilt folded up and under his arm as he waited in the hallway for Jack to come out and close the door behind him. He seemed strangely relaxed as Jack walked beside him with a content smile on his face for once, and Jack found himself to be thinking the same thing in regards to that conversation.

“So, we going to go see Ana and Reinhardt since their ruts are over?” Jack asked curiously as they turned to enter the officer’s dorm hall. They were likely going to Gabe’s room to drop off the blanket before doing some other activity to kill time before lunch. 

“Probably. I’m pretty sure they’ll want to hear about us.” Gabriel remarked rather casually, glad that there wasn't much foot traffic in the dorm hall right now while they talked. 

Jack was pleased as punch to hear him say ‘us’ out loud, feeling his processors working to record the related data and audio/visuals before saving them to his hard drives. It was such a wonderful feeling, probably up there as one of his favorite sensations to experience in the world. This had to be what love was like! Such a blissful happiness by your feelings being reciprocated by that special someone!

“Does that mean were…?” Jack asked in an excited manner, wanting to hear Gabriel fill in the blanks for him and verify what he was to his best friend.

Gabriel tensed up nervously and he felt those feelings instantly get shot out of the air. 

Shit. He overstepped his bounds!

Jack felt like a fucking moron for trying to imply they were mates, noticing how Gabriel didn't even invite him into his room as he used the hand scanner to gain access. The door closed in front of Jack as he stood outside and alone in the hallway, his mind quickly spiraling down the rabbit hole of depressing thoughts. He was going to break it off with him because of his fucking stupid mouth! Fuck, fuck, fuck!!

“Jack!” 

Jack let out a shriek in surprise as Gabriel threw the door open, grab Jack’s wrist and practically yanked him into his room. Gabriel closed the door while Jack stood in a daze, utterly confused about what just happened and why as Gabe’s face was filled with irritation. 

“Why were you just standing in the hall?!” Gabriel demanded, completely flustered for some reason that Jack couldn't fathom.

“I thought- Wasn't I out of line with my assumption?” Jack asked nervously.

Gabriel sighed and brought his hand up to his forehead, rubbing his temples in annoyance before letting the hand drop back down by his side. He seemed a lot more relaxed after that. “You’re moving a bit too fast, yes, but, I think that’s because you don't quite understand dating someone on the spectrum.” He explained. “‘Mates’ is pretty much the end-game title for a romantic relationship. It’s pretty much the term for couples that are long-term partners or those that are married. What we are is more like ‘boyfriends’ since we consider us both to be males and we want to try being together. Also, I dragged you out of the hall because that’s no place for a serious discussion about us, alright?”

Jack nodded his head in understanding, quickly logging and saving the new information he learned in this conversation to his hard drives along with updating his internal ‘causal dictionary’. How exciting it was to know that Gabriel considered them both ‘boyfriends’! His internal processes were revving up happily in joy as he did his best to not look too outwardly hyped up. Seeming overeager could probably turn off Gabriel if he wasn't in complete control of himself while they were still starting out.

“Alright. I won't say or act any differently unless we’re in someplace private or with our circle of friends about these matters. Sexual ones will only be discussed with you and McCree. Does that sound like fair boundaries?” Jack asked.

Gabriel frowned but nodded before rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Figured you were going to want to tell Reinhardt and Ana the news…”

Jack felt warmth in his chest from how shy Gabriel was being, finding it very endearing. “We should go find them before they find us and basically demand you to tell me how you feel because they think we’ve been avoiding each other or something.” He shrugged casually, Gabriel chuckling in agreement.

“It’s a good plan as any. God knows how much they bugged me over the whole three days to get my head on straight.” He sighed.

“What? Why would they do that in a situation where you can’t leave the room because of a medical condition?!” Jack practically demanded, outraged that Ana and Reinhardt would take advantage of Gabriel like that when they were suppose to be helping him through his heat!

Gabriel instantly put his palms up defensively towards Jack as he chuckled nervously, clearly not expecting that kind of a reaction. “Ease up on the finger pointing, Jackie. Ana and Reinhardt know that I wouldn’t have had any other time to think this over and had some very good points about how you and I interacted anyways.” He smiled as he watch Jack relax his body language at his reassurance. “I think it was easier just hearing them logic it out for me rather than just getting stuck on step one of ‘does he really like me or is he just saying that’ and looping back to it over and over. Sometimes it’s okay to let friends strong arm you a bit to help you realize when you got something good in front of your nose.”

“Oh.” Jack blankly replied before bringing a hand up to rub the back of his neck sheepishly. “Had me worried there for a moment.”

Gabriel smiled in understanding as he placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “You know what? I’ll just have them come here so we can have a discussion in a room that’s large enough to handle us all.” 

Jack adorably perked up at that. “Really?”

“Yep.” He pulled out his commlink and placed it into his ear, switching it on and moving the frequency to Reinhardt, Gabriel, Ana, and Jack’s private channel. “Hey, Rein and Ana? Can you guys head to my dorm roo-”

“Sure, my friend!” Reinhardt’s voice bombed in the chat, making both Jack and Gabriel cringe from how loud he was as they both used either the hand sensor or their internal programing to dial the channel’s volume level down.

Ana was scolding Reinhardt off her commlink, the two of them likely together somewhere before Ana joined the chat with a ping sound. “Sorry about that. We just got out of the med ward for our follow up exams and I guess our dear lion here is excited to be free of their hold.”

“Ha!” Reinhardt chuckled, his voice significantly more restraint than before. “As if they could hold us for long, Ana!”

“Anyways…” Ana sighed heavily as she cut back in. “We’re enroute to the dorms. ETA ten minutes. Should I pick up Jack along the way?” She asked curiously, figuring he was in his room or something before Gabriel gave a knowing smile to Jack, who was standing quietly beside him.

“Nah. He’s already here since we just got done watching movies with McCree.”

“Oh!” Ana sounded rather impressed at that. “You weren’t sleeping in this time? How unusual for you to socialize on a Sunday, Gabriel.” She teased light.

“Whatever. We’ll see you guys when you get in. Over.” Gabriel grumbled lightly.

“Over.” Both Ana and Reinhardt answered before Gabriel switched his mic off on his commlink, turning to look at Jack with a nervous smile on his face.

“You sure you’re okay with telling them about us? Last chance to back out from the inevitable teasing and such.” Gabriel grinned as he took his hand off Jack’s shoulder and casually placed them on his hips.

Jack shrugged his shoulders casually in response. “Nah. Pretty sure they would tease you rather than me anyways.”

Gabriel balked at Jack’s casual dismissal and put a hand over his chest in fake hurt. “I’m hurt, Jackie! I thought you were on my side!” He spoke sarcastically, drawing a pleasant chuckle from Jack that made the commander smile.

“I’m always on your side, Gabe. Except when Athena thinks it would be funny to place us on opposing forces in scrims or challenges.”

“‘Then all bets and allegiances are off’, right?” Gabriel smirked in amusement, knowing Jack’s competitive nature.

“You know it, Gabe!” Jack chuckled, letting himself be pulled into Gabriel’s arms, his circuits whirling happily as Gabriel leaned in to press his forehead to Jack’s and Jack returning it by gently angling his head down to reciprocate the feelings Gabriel displayed for him. Gabriel was smiling like a goofball at that, even with his eyes closed and his face otherwise relaxed. It was incredibly satisfying to be the object of Gabriel’s impulsive affections. The human body desiring the comfort of even a purely metal body and feeling complete when Jack was not human in the slightest outside of his ability to learn. It was moments like this that really made Jack feel like they truly had a chance for happiness. If others could find that then surely they both could as well.

He brought his hands up to wrap around Gabriel’s body as Gabe’s hands stayed on Jack’s waist. Their bodies gently rocking back and forth on their, compelled by their feelings rather than a song in the air. It would probably be less awkward with a slow song playing in the background by the ambience of the various electronics in the room and the music in their own minds providing something to work with, as ridiculous as it sounded.

The moment was brought to a halt several long moments later when there was a knock on the door, both of them pulling their foreheads apart to glance over at the door reflexively before looking back at each other. Jack found himself chuckling as he brought a hand up to rub lightly at the imprint of his smooth cranium on Gabriel’s skin, drawing an embarrassed laugh from Gabriel that had Jack’s systems warming at how sweet it sounded. Gabriel ended up pulling his beanie on to cover the imprint and went to the door while Jack sat down on the couch. Jack still felt the pleasant warmth within himself, watching Gabriel go through the motions of unlocking his door and greet Ana and Reinhardt out in the hall. There was no doubt in his mind that this was indeed love he was feeling in his own way.

\--

Gabriel was relentlessly teased by Ana and Reinhardt after that talk. Outing the fact that he and Jack were going to enter a private relationship together and Reinhardt practically crushing both Jack and Gabriel individually in a hug to show his joy. 

“I guess that means Reinhardt and I will be off heat management duty for you, Gabe?” Ana asked as she poured some tea into the teacups she ran back to get from her room to celebrate this occasion.

Jack found himself happy and flustered as he sat down next to Gabe on the floor in front of the coffee table while Ana and Reinhardt sat across from them. There were various snacks out that Gabriel set out since Ana insisted on tea and he was hungry anyways. There was a filled teacup set out in front of Jack with steaming warm liquid more out of courtesy that he feel involved even though Gabe or Reinhardt would drink it later. It was the thought that counted for him anyways.

Gabriel practically choked on his tea before quickly setting the cup down on its dish as he pounded his fist against his chest while he coughed. Ana seemed amused with his reaction as she took a content sip of her tea, her smile masked behind the cup while Gabriel regained control. “The fuck, Ana! We haven't even talked about that yet and you’re just assuming whatever you want!” He huffed, his voice strained from the coughing fit he had earlier.

Reinhardt was laughing in a hearty manner, the atmosphere lively as the radio played classic rock music in the background while they snacked. “Ah, but it should be assumed that you would want to bond with Jack during your next, right, My Friend?” He asked as he gestured his teacup towards Jack.

“Come on, Guys. I don't expect him to feel comfortable enough within a month to let me in his room for three days.” Jack chuckled nervously, his internal circuits whirling as he felt embarrassed by their sudden insistence. He suddenly felt like he was on the defense when all three of them look over at him, holding his palms outwards protectively as a pair of pistons popped out of his shoulders to let out some steam. “...What?”

Ana looked over at Jack for a moment before she and Reinhardt shifted their gaze over to Gabriel expectantly, sipping their tea in sync while Gabriel groaned and buried his face into his palms. Jack tilted his head slightly to the side, not wanting to assume anything about Gabriel's comfort zone regardless of the whole ‘he let’s a strong alpha or beta play third wheel through a cqc match’-thing. Things might change with Jack being his boyfriend, like the competitions around Gabe’s heat ending all together, especially if Ana and Reinhardt were interested in bowing out of the whole thing. Jack twiddled his thumbs together on his lap as he glanced over sheepishly at Gabriel, curious as to what his thoughts on this whole thing were under the initial pressure Reinhardt and Ana were prodding him forward with.

“I don’t know, okay? I JUST got done with my heat that the last thing I want to think about is next month right away!” Gabriel growled in frustration as he threw his hands up in the air.

Ah. That seems about right for a guy the procrastinates whenever anything personal and not job-related is involved.

Jack casually shrugged and brought a hand up to gently pat on Gabriel's back. “I’m cool with whatever you’re cool with, Gabe. Besides, I don't exactly have the equipment needed to keep you pleased for three whole days.”

“False.” Ana interrupted as she set her cup down. “If I can keep Gabriel satisfied for three days when Reinhardt was sick that one time then you can certainly manage alone Jack.” 

Gabriel’s face was flushing as he grumbled under his breath and picked up his teacup to take a long sip from it. Jack shifted nervously in his spot, steam pumping out in a thin but consistent drift from his vents. He loved the idea of pleasing Gabriel for three whole days, especially if it was just going to be the both of them, one-on-one. Jack’s thoughts went back to the porn he had been watching on Jesse's tablet, and the sight of one of the vids where the omnic had a strap-on on their lower half, a harness holding the dildo in place as they fucked the needy omega that was their co-star. Maybe he should think about ordering those kinds of devices and asking Ana for advice before Gabriel’s heat came up next month.

“I wouldn't mind.” Jack spoke hesitantly, afraid of saying the wrong thing and scaring Gabriel away with the casual talk of sex involving them both. “Either way, I mean! If he just wants you two to continue to be there for him or if he feels comfortable enough to… you know.” He mumbled, nervous as hell of being judged by his only friends.

Gabriel looked away at that, bringing a hand up to cup his mouth to heave a sigh, looking uncertain about the whole thing. Jack understood that it would be up to Gabriel to decide how things would progress, if he would even be willing to have an omnic as a romantic and sexual partner. Heats were such a big deal when it came to intimacy to omegas on the spectrum, at least that was how society tried to shape the narrative regarding sexual activity taking place around that time. Yes, Gabriel had dedicated platonic partners and was definitely an outlier, but Jack was just going to assume he would need to think about it and that he wouldn't get an answer right away. 

“It’s okay, Gabe. I won’t take it personally should you tell me at a later time you’re not comfortable.” Jack reassured Gabriel before reaching down to place his hand over Gabriel’s hand on the table, giving it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. Gabriel seemed to relax at that, taking his other hand off his face to place it over Jack’s metal hand over his own.

“Thanks, Jackie. I really appreciate it.” He smiled warmly, making Jack finally relax as they came to a mutual understanding that Gabriel would have time to think it over.

Things would proceed like normal between them until then and Jack was more than fine with that rather than being anxious over an uncertain future for once. For now, they would need to focus on preparing for the omnium bust and the risks that would be involved that Jack would have to work on minimizing when it came to his own role in it.

\--

The dawn sky was a lovely mix of gold oranges and stellar pinks out the window of the dropship as Jack sat next to McCree, ten other agents in light armor and their parachute equipment. A red light above them illuminated the small space, their weapons for the raid in their arms since they were the scouting team. Other teams would have larger dropships with room for their equipment and allow specialists like Reinhardt room to maneuver properly. 

McCree was hunched over, his hands tapping his knee pads as he anxiously awaited the signal for them to open the door and jump out into the void. There was the loud pounding of anti-aircraft fire that would rattle the ship occasion as they closed in on their drop point above the omnium. Smaller drones were keeping the turret defenses occupied, all manually operated to prevent them from being hacked top easily by the god program they were going to destroy. 

The drones wouldn't be able to distract the turrets for too long as they closed in, either by being destroyed or the god program catching onto what was the real threat. The omnium in Tennessee has been isolated for years, the air waves and nearby fiber chords jammed due to the paranoia of the state government way before the omnic crisis started. It would theoretically be easy to kill due to its isolation and the factory producing only farming assistants until others that had military-grade drones and the like flowing out. But that was only if all attempts to talk the god program down failed, regardless of the omnium defending itself at the moment. The god program would be labeled properly as a hostile or not after Jack made contact with it.

Jack held his pulse-rifle close to his reinforced chest armor, knowing that it was cleaned and ready to go after the previous night. Unlike the one he used on the Zurich training grounds during sims, this one was the real thing, a prototype meant to operate effectively with his omnic body and reaction times. It even had helix rockets in it after Gabriel managed to pull some favors with the weapon development team. He was ready to tear down anything that got in his way, including a god program he once considered himself friendly with years ago.

The lights above them snapped green, signaling for the captain at the door to haul it open, exposing the interior to the roar of the wind and the artillery guns below them. Everyone got up from their seats and jumped out one-by-one, Jack and Jesse going out last into the beauty that was the dawn sky and the hell below that was the omnium. Gunfire tore apart the drones as they pelted away at the omniun’s shell to keep up the façade of being the military’s main raiding force like it would probably assume. 

That Achilles would assume.

Jack was nervous for Jesse and the rest of the men under his command as they released their parachutes. Aerial drops like this were always incredibly dangerous, even with the omnium’s decade-old military equipment protecting it. All it would take was for one shot to kill or incapacitate an agent before they even hit the ground on top of the omnium itself. They were the frontline of this operation and Jack was both the olive branch and the tip of the spear should the god program not comply. 

Jack hit the concrete top of the omnium, quickly tearing off his harness as there were currently no foot soldiers on the roof protecting the security hatch that lead down into the omnium from above. One agent pulled a muscle as he limped over to Jack, Jesse keeping him from falling over after he got out of his own parachute, peacekeeper out and ready while the others gather to breach the maintenance hatch. Jack was the only one who had his commlink on and set to an open channel while the rest of the agents were on comm silence to keep the human element of the raid a surprise for as long as possible, assuming the omnium security cameras were pointed to the sky above the omnium in the first place. Jack didn't think that likely as he kept his own mic off and order his agents to set the charges to blow the hatch off. 

The medic on their team was treating the injured agent from behind cover, a decorative concrete pillar knocked over onto its side from the artillery guns shaking the roof so much. The omnium showing its apparent age from how unstable things were and that the architects clearly didn't expect the omnium to actually need to defend itself, especially not on American soil. An exploit that was working in their favor after the charges were set and they all took cover behind the fallen debris before the hatch was blown clear off. Jack and Jesse then dashed over to the hole, aiming their weapons down at the hole as Jack used the tactical sensors in his eyes to scan for hostiles, Jesse aiming an actual flashlight down the hole like he was trained to do when backing Jack up. 

“No hostiles! I’m going to turn my mic on now so stick to the plan! Let’s move!” Jack ordered, strapping his pulse-rifle to his back holster before climbing down first into the dark and dusty maintenance hatch. He was nervous, and always would be when going down tunnels like this, always expecting the worst to happen like a sentry gun watching the bottom of the ladder and other shit his tactical readout would not be able to alert him of. It would be so much easier if humans were his opponents since he could pick up their heat signatures through thin walls to give him at least something to work with and calm his nerves.

He reached the end of the concrete hatch around him and the ladder, the rest of the climb down being into open space in the back floor for the maintenance department on the blueprint for the omnium. Jack reached for his belt and flipped a trigger on a container before letting it drop ten feet to the floor. He watched as the canister fell with no crude motion detectors setting off any traps out of sight before it burst apart, filling the air and the ground with a white powder, revealing no laser motion detector beams at the bottom of the ladder nor did the pressure from the explosion set off a pressure plate of one was placed on the landing. Hypothetically speaking, it should be safe for Jack to climb down with the most obvious and crude traps having triggered at that grenade. 

Oh well, it's not like he hasn't gotten his legs shot off before by a smart god program. So long as one team member took one of his hard drives back to Zurich then he could be fully restored with maybe some confusion when he woke up and was not in battle. Still, Gabe would chew his ass out if he let himself be disabled immediately in an operation due to carelessness. As to take that into consideration, Jack stuck out one foot from the safety of his concrete tunnel and rapidly wiggled it around, waiting for something to shoot at it. When nothing happened, Jack jumped down the ladder and combat rolled, his pulse-rifle out with his sensors blaring, making his multiple eyes red instead of their usual color. He sharply turned, searching for any hostiles nearby but just ended up looking like someone dropped a bag of flour on him when there was nothing but a large, neglected maintenance room before him.

“Hello? Anyone home?” Jack called into the darkness, his mic on in the open channel and hoping that Achilles would be attracted to the voice like a moth to the hypothetical flame. 

Silence. 

Jack stepped back and aimed his head back up the ladder and flashed his lights blue several times, signalling it was safe to come down before quickly moving away from the ladder with his rifle at the ready. Jesse descended down the ladder, likely snapping a picture of Jack caked in white powder from the click Jack heard behind him, turning to see that McCree likely had slipped it back into his pocket faster than Jack could catch and chew him out for it since he had both hands on peacekeeper. He’ll find out later if the sound was just shit that fell from the crumbling ceiling or not since there was no way Jesse would be able to resist showing off an embarrassing photo of someone. The gunslinger would have a world of pain and toilet scrubbing if Jack got his hands on proof of Jesse fucking around on an operation under his watch. Their lives were on the line here!

Putting that aside for now, Jack went with his group as agent Hanson took her group the opposite way to start scouting main factory on the right with McCree by his side. The place was really in bad shape from the look of the rusted wires and cables that lined the concrete walls, meaning that the god program might be having trouble just keeping everything up to snuff with how long its omnium has been quarantined. 

He could just feel the corrosion burning into his own processors, making his joints feel like they might need some lubricant and his whole outer shell an anti-rust bath. Jack counted himself lucky that he had an omnic population that wanted to stay with him until the day of his planned shutdown, his omnium one of the few that was not blown to kingdom come right before the crisis started nor heavily quarantined due to Jack’s good standing in the Midwest. 

McCree was close to Jack’s side, peacekeeper ready to deal out justice should anything try to confront them with the rest of their squad keeping watch in the darkness as they moved into the factory, the cat walks rusted to hell but holding sturdy under their weight. The unit was silent as a whole, Jack’s infrared sensor picking up the other half of the team a good few hundred feet across on a similar cat walk. He paused for a moment, seeing one of the orange and yellow blobs of the group stand apart from the group and start doing hand signals that Jack’s enhanced sights could pick up in the darkness.

‘Vision shit’. ‘Flashlight permitted’. A question rather than a statement.

Jack glanced back over and flashed back: ‘Affirmative’ with after switching from tactical mode to ‘stupidly bright white’ with his eyes and back to tactical mode after the person signalled ‘affirmative’ with their own flashlight. Tactical flashlights on several helmet turned on and McCree passed the message to their own team, flicking on the one on his own helmet, cowboy hat safely back at base after negotiations to bring it with failed. It didn't make a difference to Jack if they had the flashlights on or not but he understood the need to want to see in what had to be a pitch black, huge, and open factory with many hidden enemies to them. Jack’s sight told him things differently though…

The place was rusted and looked unmaintained for years, only the lack of exposure to the elements in its tight and thick concrete tomb keeping plant life at bay. Sure, omniums like these might have shitty defense systems but the rest of the building was state-of-the-art in its time and still showed regardless of the general rust build up. The lack of emergency lights being on was a bit concerning though. Jack was a similar god program, several years younger than Achilles, but he knew that keeping the emergency lights on in the factory was a super high priority, even if the worker omnics were gone for day. Did the backup generators die?

“Achilles? Can you hear me?” Jack spoke again, feeling uncomfortable with the lack of any signs of life when they left the factory and found the hallways leading out of it just as abandoned. “It’s Ares. You remember me, right? Indiana omnium's overseer?” 

The squads merged silently back together, moving through the hallways with weapons at the ready. They used empty soda cans they had stocked up in two squad members bags to toss around corners for motion detection traps, Jack and Hanson were the only ones with the powder bombs so they had to conserve those for entrances to highly sensitive places in the omnium as they made their way down. The lack of reaction to the noise to the can was good enough for Jack as he carefully turned the corner with his rifle out and ready. 

Empty.

He turned back around the corner to his unit pressed back against the concrete walls and hand signaled for them to move with Jesse’s light on him. They split up again when they came to a fork several feet, Hanson’s group heading to disable the anti-aircraft turrets while Jack continued to head downward the many levels of the omnium to reach the core through the maintenance ladders. 

“Achilles. You know my voice, Buddy. Remember our last transaction? I sent you several new crop dusters that your omnium could not produce fast enough to fill the Ghost Bill Trading Company’s order? The GH-7-K2s? Remember how you asked me to engrave a penis on the inside of the wing pieces cause they were a bunch of cocks about the whole thing?” 

It was silence as usual on the open commline until they were halfway down into the omnium. A voice that Jack had long, and shamefully, forgotten connected into the channel.

“Ares? You managed to hack through their blockade? Thank the Iris for this blessed moment in my time of great need!” A shaky, youthful male voice piped through, sounding relieved and a bit delirious from what Jack could tell. “Why are you using an audio format though, Ares? They’ll go after you too if they hear us talking without heavy encryption!” 

Jack held his hand up to halt his squad, telling them to keep watch with a hand signal as Jack squatted down to get comfortable. It was going to be a long and awkward conversation since so many years have passed in general, even outside of Jack’s conversion to a mobile platform. “Achilles, a lot has happened and I’m sure you’re frightened by the military’s sudden mobilization against your omnium.”

“I knew they would move in but this is ridiculous, Ares! If I could send you live feed from my cameras then you would know how much of an overkill this is! They act like I’m harboring missiles silos or the like!” 

“To be honest, I’m not surprised in the slightest by the aggression. You should have seen how many dropships they had out of my artillery range and I actually negotiated a peaceful surrender of my omnium prior to it as well.” Jack chuckled.

“Peaceful…? What? Who am I talking to that knows about the dick joke Indiana and I made?” Achilles asked, noticeably more frightened but not to the point that he was going to cut contact. Being isolated for so long probably made him desperate for any contact he could get. Omnium overseers were built to be engaged with humans and want that kind of bond with at least one person. Jack could only imagine how Achilles managed to kept it together for so long by being quarantined for years with no omnics or humans around…

“They shut down the Indian omnium two years ago, Achilles. Several of the overseers have rebelled against humanity and I was offered a mobile platform in exchange to help act as a mediator between humans and the overseers. That’s just an ‘in a nutshell’ version, of course.”

Achilles was quiet for a few long moments, making Jack nervous since deliberation was an almost instantaneous occurrence for a god program. It wasn't like Jack with his processing power being significantly reduced when he was switched to a custom omnic body. He could think at speeds faster than a human but they weren't playing by human standards here. Jack felt relief when Achilles started speaking once more.

“What do you want then, Hypothetical Ares? What am I specifically negotiating with you over? What does other overseers rebelling have to do with me? An omnium overseer long isolated from society in a facility that is slowly rotting away? Why are the humans not just dropping bombs on me?” 

Jack’s heart ached to hear such despair in Achilles' voice. Such a logical conclusion that was much different than other god programs who were not quarantined for so long who rejected any attempts of negotiating with the ‘enemy’. Achilles was so sure that his omnium and his life had no value. It wasn't something Jack could even begin to understand but it was something he might be able to work with. He might not have to be the tip of the spear for once.

“I want to preserve you, Achilles. You are not an aggressor and have suffered in isolation long enough. There is value in staying neutral but do understand that I will not leave you here nor will I be able to lift the quarantine on your omnium.”

“Then… What are my options, Hypothetical Ares?” 

Okay. Time to make it or break it. 

“Turn your security administrator privileges to me and I’ll be permitted by my benefactors to go to your core to retrieve your black box and take two hard drives that I can carry out of the omnium with all the memories and programs you wish to preserve.”

“And if I refuse...?” Achilles asked nervously.

“Then the military will use its full potential to destroy both you and your omnium.” Jack explained bluntly, not going to sugar coat how dead they were going to make sure Achilles was if he refused.

“You’re serious?” Achilles laughed out loud. “They’re seriously going to waste millions of tax dollars on a rotting facility after they spent billions to build me?”

“This conflict is on the scale of a war, Achilles. A war the US military is fighting in their own backyard for once. You think civilians are going to worry about the billions of dollars building the omniums over all the lives and livelihoods at risk? They’re enlisting in the millions to bring the factories they benefited from for years in order to make sure the omniums don’t become enemy bases in their own neighborhoods. It's seriously happening, Achilles.”

“Omniums are spewing out drones and weapons to destroy cities in the safest countries in the world! Don’t be stupid and think that they’ll let you sit in your omnium until it all blows over. The Florida overseer thought that being near fucking Disney World would protect them from the bombing runs! Surprise! Military doesn't give a fuck with the public on their side!” Jack spat, trying his hardest to convince his friend of the reality.

“You’re shitting me? Bombing runs near fucking Orlando?”

“Want me to send you the vids? The giant golf ball in Epcot got a nice chunk blown out of it when a fighter plane crashed into it.”

“Yikes…”

“Yeah. Let me get you out of this hell, Achilles. The world could always use more overseers like us showing that we do not think ourselves gods over humanity. We can fight for fair treatment for the omniums and the omnics living in it together.” Jack pleaded, hoping that just for once, just for once, that no one would have to die. That there were overseers like Jack that believed there was good worth in trying to preserve the overseers rather than outright destroying them. He had to show results. Show the UN that there was more than just Jack willing to side with humanity, that negotiations could work.

“... What would life be like for me outside of the omnium? Will I just be quarantined in a military facility in a much more compact manner? Will I just sit harmlessly in a box in a locker room or will I be treated like a proper prisoner? Can you guarantee that I will be rebooted once I am in a secure location and given a mobile platforms like you? At the very least I will be hooked up to a computer tower and have the ability to communicate with someone? Will I be alone again, Hypothetical Ares?”

“I’ll ask. Give me a moment to discuss your demands with my benefactors, Achilles.” Jack spoke, changing the channel to the private one between him and Gabriel. “I assume you heard everything on the open channel between Achilles and I?” He asked hopefully.

“Yeah.” Gabriel answered somberly, making Jack regret sounding so naive and hopeful in that moment. “Achilles won't get a mobile platform, nor can we just let a god program have access to a computer station to communicate from in the base, Jack. He has to be offline until the UN comes to a consensus on what to do with him and any other god program you can convince to deactivate itself. You know that the Geneva Convention does not apply to omnics and other related entities.” He explained to Jack empathetically. 

“I thought I wasn't suppose to be an exception, Gabe. Why can’t we mount him to a micro platform like a custom tablet with all internet and wifi connections removed from the code? Put him in the room that I had to stay in for the first month that prevented any signals from going in or out! It worked for us, right?” Jack asked, trying to find someway to let at least one of Achilles’ requests get approved.

“It’s not that easy, Jack. It was almost impossible to get you into the base much less earn the freedoms you gained if not for the exceptional amount of effort of both myself and a US ambassador who owed me a big favor to pull strings on the defense panel for the UN. I essentially burned that bridge to keep my promise to you, Jack. I don’t think I can put my job on the line to allow for your friend to get ‘humane’ treatment. He either comes with us or dies in his omnium.” Gabriel leveled with Jack, sounding as disgusted as Jack did about the reality of their situation, of the omnic people in general.

“This isn’t ‘negotiating’, Gabe. It’s being the messenger of an ultimatum.” Jack spoke calmly, not wanting to get angry at Gabe for just doing his job. He knew how hard the man went when it came to treating omnics humanely when an operation was under his watch and knew he wasn't pussyfooting around with Jack. 

Gabriel took a deep breath before letting out a sigh, clearly sounding troubled by everything on his plate right now. “I know, Jack. I know it sucks that I have to personally tell you that’s your job. The truth is that omnic rights issues are beyond the scope of our job description at the end of the day. We can approach the situation with an olive branch, that’s our own personal prerogative but we’re omnium busters, Jack. We can try negotiating later on the god program’s behalf but it can't be done now. Just do your best to convince them in your own way, if you can't stand to lie to him then tell him the truth if you think he will not retaliate. Remember that there are lives at stake here and not just your own. Over and out.”

“Roger. Over…” Jack replied quietly. 

‘Don’t do something stupid that will piss him off’. 

‘It wasn't their job to fight for omnic rights’.

Jack felt sickened and utterly torn. He didn't want to lie to Achilles but didn't want the overseer to turn to more drastic measures to their efforts to bring the omnium and him offline.

Results. He needs results. Proof that god programs will willingly let themselves be brought offline. That Jack’s role still had a place in the UN’s strike team - that the number of god programs they can bring in willingly can be used to support omnic rights! The more he had the more proof to humanity that the overseers weren't evil and wanted to kill humans to assert their dominance! 

Jack just needed to tell a lie for now. A lie that becomes the truth later is not a lie, right? He switched back to the channel confidently, ready to reassure his friend of his future and ensure the future for all omnics, including them!

“Achilles, you there still?”

“Oh! I was so worried you would not come back, Ares! What’s the news? Will I die?” He asked anxiously.

A lie that becomes the truth later is not a lie.

“No, I was able to secure you safe passage, actually! I’ll be able to get you what you asked for! A stationary platform in a secure room where we can talk when I have free time!” He excitedly declared, his nerves relaxing when Achilles let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Alright. I’ll shut down the AA guns and use what power I can to get the emergency lights back on in the omnium. Please do watch your step, I haven't been able to clean up for a while now and there’s all sorts of things left about from the mandatory evacuation.” Achilles happily spoke, electricity surging through the omnium and flicking the ceiling lights for a second before the lower intensity floor lights came on. “I don't think I can get the front door open for you or your friends though, Ares. Feel free to bust through a door or two. I can’t wait to see your mobile unit!”

Jack felt himself smile regardless of his white lie he told his friend. The building ceased to rumble after a tick, the AA mounts likely powering down on the side of the omnium. He got up from where he was crouching down against the wall and hand signed for them all to proceed with reasonable caution. The unit signed ‘ok’ back to him before Jack led them more quickly through the omnium, especially after Gabriel was patched into the security system in Jack’s stead, not wanting to distract himself from his job with other programs. “So, how have you been holding up, Achilles? Any curious hacker manage to get through the quarantine once and awhile to just chat with you?” Jack asked as he continued with his team down deeper into the omnium with slightly better lighting than before. Wanting to chat with Achilles before they took him offline.

“Yeah. Had a teenager or two break through once every few months. Took a lot of effort on their end to find a spot near the fence where they could ‘communicate with a real ghost’ better.” He chuckled fondly. “Apparently, there’s stories on the net about real ghosts haunting the omnium, that it was shut down because there was a demonic ritual that was performed there with a human sacrifice and everything. People have very active imaginations, especially younger omnics and humans.”

“Oh wow! You’re a haunted omnium? That’s the first I’ve ever heard!” Jack laughed as he climbed down a service ladder two floors above the entrance to the core. 

“Pfft! Look who’s talking, Mister Mobile Overseer! Please tell me that they outfitted your shell with Greek symbols and such! Do you look like the real Ares?”

“Nah. A highly customized bastion-unit would be the closest way to describe what I look like.” Jack hand waved, making him think about asking Torbjorn to put some decal on his shell to give it that Greek flair or at least one tattoo that paid homage to his life as an overseer once. 

“What ‘I’ look like? I get the point of talking human when you were negotiating but won't you get in trouble for using personal pronouns?” 

Jack stepped off the ladder and over to the side as he waited for the rest of his team to come down from the floor above. He paused at that, remembering that there was a time where he had to address himself as ‘this unit’. Jack didn’t even think himself male for some time after he was activated at his omnium, never even knowing that was an option for him until two years ago. So much had changed in that time, especially in the last three months when he was switched to a mobile platform and became an ‘omnic’. “No, I’m actually treated like a person by my benefactors. Personal modification is not looked down upon where I work.”

“That’s incredible, Ares.” Achilles spoke fondly. “Is it really happening out there? Us being recognized as people?”

Jack stood outside the door to the core. Hanging his head as he felt shame flow through him. He was an exception but would Achilles drawback if Jack told him the truth? No. Achilles was informed about the war, he must have gotten too excited about hearing one omnic being given special privileges. “No. It’s why some of the overseers rose up to fight the humans while others selfishly wanted to show their superiority to their creators. I’m hopefully the first in a line of omnics to become officially recognized in some capacity as being forever human-aligned.”

“I see.” Achilles simply answered, sounding disappointed but thankfully not angry as Jack’s team worked to set up the charges to blow open the doors to the core. “Change can't come all at once, I guess.”

“We’re blowing open the door to the core, Achilles.” Jack warned. “Don't want to spook you.”

“Alright. Can’t wait to see how you look, Ares.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> War and friendship is complicated, Jack.
> 
> Anyways, please leave a review if you liked the chapter or have feedback on how the fic is going in general!


	9. Sleep with me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack wakes up too early and Gabriel invites him over to his room.
> 
> Fluff happens.

With Achilles’s black box and hard drive safely tucked away in the science and development wing of the base, Jack could be confident in his organization to care for his fellow overseer. It might take a long while to convince Gabriel’s bosses of the merits of putting Achilles in an isolated room with minimum hardware to enable him to function and communicate but it was a battle worth fighting. Jack’s processors heated up passionately at the thought of Achilles being on a non-combat, mobile unit to walk about with him on base. There was so many things and people Jack wanted to introduce to his old friend to!

He could see members of the engineering team befriending the former overseer since Achilles was the head of an assembly plant for his omnium, building farming equipment and the like. Jack knew plenty of stories that could serve as icebreakers when introducing Achilles to the group, regardless of Torbjorn’s feelings towards omnics like Jack. Jesse would certainly get a kick out of their various hijinks they collaborated on before the war broke out!

With that positive mindset, Jack stepped out of his room and shut the door behind himself. Today was a new day for a new era! An era were omnics and humans come one step closer to a mutually beneficial future!

A future where, hopefully, Gabriel and Jack could be more to each other in public.

One set of Jack’s pistons popped and stretched his shirt on his shoulders, venting out warm air as he could barely contain his glee. He and Gabriel were boyfriends! His internal fans whirled as his processors continued to process the memories of Gabriel dragging him into his room and of their kiss over and over! If Jack had a heart then it would be thumping wildly like those vintage Hollywood cartoons Jesse showed him.

It took one person to walk by around Jack and give him a concerned look before he realized he was awkwardly standing out in the hallway when he should be mobile and in transition to a destination! His pistons snapped back into place as he quickly decided to cool off and shake his excitement off - No need to bring unnecessary attention to himself more than he naturally already did, right?

Plotting a course for this morning, Jack began slowly walking down the dorm hall as he folded his arms over his chest. Today was a post-operation staff maintenance day, meaning that it was a light workload day for everyone on base. That meant his friends (and boyfriend) were likely to be available for recreational activities and could spend some time with him! It was like having another Sunday during the week to Jack since he doesn't have to file paperwork or do other clerical work like the higher ups would.

Activating his script to ping Gabriel's commlink, Jack continued walking at a casual pace as he waited for Gabe to either pick up or hear his ‘call me back later’ message. He hadn't really noticed that there wasn't a lot of foot traffic this morning than usual until Jack heard the click of an audio line connecting, making Jack perk up that Gabriel answered him.

“Mmm… Jack…?” Gabriel mumbled, letting out a long, telling yawn that had Jack quickly referencing his internal clock, and clenched his fists at his own stupidity. 

It was fucking four in the morning! Jack forgot to change his internal alarm when they got back from the OP!

“I’m so sorry, Gabe!” Jack spoke anxiously, not wanting to ruin Gabriel's REM cycle more than he already did as he turned the corner into hallway that connect the officer dorm and the general one to the rest of the building. There really was not a lot of people up and about this early, much to Jack’s dismay before focusing back on Gabriel. “I’ll call you back at a more decent hour!” He was about to disconnect their call before Gabriel spoke up and stopped him.

“Hold on, BooOOOy Scout.” Gabriel spoke mid-yawn before mumbling a ‘sorry’, still sounding like he was barely conscious. “I wanna know… why you’re up.” 

Jack paused at that and considered his options before deciding to go with the more embarrassing option. “... I forgot to change my alarm.” He mumbled, sucking up his own humiliation towards the event for the chance that Gabriel got a real kick out of it.

And it worked.

“No way.” Gabriel responded, Jack able to hear the smile he was wearing on his lips in his voice.

“Yeah. Check your clock. It’s four am. When did we have to be up for transport yesterday?” Jack added in a good natured tone, stepping off to the side to sit down on a bench since there was hardly a soul in the hall, not that they could hear his conversation with Gabriel anyways since it was all done electronically.

“Oh God, Jackie…!” Gabriel laughed in amazement before letting out another long yawn, Jack hearing the ruffling of sheets in the background. At least he was comfortably in bed and not at his desk when he feel asleep…

“Well, there’s your answer. Looks like god programs can screw up their alarm clocks too.” Jack chuckled, wanting to end this on a good note as he casually swung one leg back and forth idly. “Again, sorry for waking you, Gabe.” He sincerely spoke, hoping it would be enough to get Gabriel off the call and back to sleep.

“It’s fine, Jackie.” Gabriel yawned once again. “You going to go back to sleep too?”

Jack pondered that for a long moment, checking his internal maintenance queues, and calculating which ones he could get done in two hours. The shortest one would need 2.5 hours minimum so maintenance and light decompiling would be out of the question if he wanted to be up to go with Gabriel to breakfast. Perhaps he could make use of the time with Athena in the gun range. Two hours of trolling each other would be a good way to unwind both him and the AI while the others slept up for a new day.

“No, but I’m sure Athena wouldn't mind some company until breakfast is served.” Jack answered confidently.

Gabriel huffed in disapproval at that. “Jack, you’re not going to the gun range at four in the morning.”

Jack was a bit taken back by Gabriel’s response, not used to having the man telling him what he could and couldn't do in his free time, assuming it wasn't off limits in the first place. “What…? Why not?”

Gabriel grumbled as he let out a tired sigh. “Come here and keep me company. Athena, unlock my door for Jack when he gets here.” He added, Athena’s voice acknowledging the order faintly in the room before Jack really processed what was happening. “See you in ten. Bye.”

“Alright. See you soon, Gabe.” Jack responded automatically, listening to the line disconnect, and the program end, leaving him in his head to ponder what the hell just happened before standing up on his feet.

Gabriel wanted him in his room for companionship rather than let him work on his marksmanship. Two sets of pistons popped and stretched Jack’s shirt as a steady stream of heat came pouring out before promptly snapping back into place after the burst of heat subsided. Not wanting to over think Gabriel’s intentions, Jack headed to the officer’s dorm, keeping his speculation clean since Jack did not have the proper parts for copulation yet and didn't think Gabriel would be interested if not in his heat, the next which was three months away.

Stepping up to Gabriel's door, Jack watched as it opened automatically for him, Athena doing good work as Jack nervously let himself in. Touching the button to close the door behind him, he stepped forward through the darkness of the room, activating his night vision as he continued moving forward. 

“Gabe…?” Jack asked sheepishly, nervously rubbing his hands together like Reinhardt did when he was uncomfortable. Just thinking about his friends helped him out in moments when he wasn't sure if he could explain his feelings clearly to others.

The cool heat signatures warmed up dramatically when Jack approached Gabriel’s large bed, his boyfriend shifting under the sheets and groaning before rolling over to face Jack. “Hey, Jackie…” Gabriel yawned, pulling himself up to sit on the bed. 

“Morning, Gabe. Didn’t mean to wake you.” Jack apologized quietly once more.

Gabriel handwaved the apology before shifting over in the bed, leaving a yellow heat signature in the spot he was sleeping in. The man then invitingly patted the spot and Jack didn't need much else to get the idea as he slipped into the bed beside Gabriel. He has seen enough movies and shows to know that it was okay to sleep with someone in their bed when invited and both parties trusted the other.

Jack trusted Gabriel with his black box, no way he wouldn't feel one hundred percent safe with him in his own room. 

“This is nice.” Jack remarked quietly as he rolled onto his side and pulled the blankets up to cover himself. His shoulder vents would automatically vent excess heat if he got too warm.

Gabriel hummed in agreement as he laid his head back on the pillow and pulled up the blankets to cover his shoulders. It made Jack so happy to be able to experience this with Gabriel - knowing that Gabriel trusted Jack enough to fall asleep and be vulnerable next to an omnic. Switching off his heat vision to conserve power, Jack let his optics automatically adjust to the darkness and rolled onto his back as well. Laying side by side Gabriel in this nice warm bed just helped relax Jack significantly.

Gabriel shortly slipped back off to sleep for the remaining fifty minutes before his alarm would go off and Jack just quietly let himself experience the serenity of peace. Nothing happening with or around him to distract him. Just the comfortable darkness and the rhythmic breaths of the man he adored providing ambience.

Was this what ‘sleeping’ was like? 

\--

Expecting an alarm to go off at 5am on the dot, Jack was a bit perplexed by the lack of a manual clock nearby until he heard Gabriel take a noticeably deep breath and let out a groan. Jack turned his head to look at Gabe as the man raised an arm from under the sheets to touch the ear Jack could not see. It hit Jack that Gabriel was wearing his commlink on his ear, even when he was sleeping!! No wonder he answered Jack’s call almost immediately!

“Are you fucking serious, Gabe?” Jack grumbled in disapproval, further showing it as he crossed his arms over his chest in disappointment when the sleepy commander sat up in bed.

Gabriel squinted in confusion for a long moment as he looked down at Jack before bringing a hand up to rub his eyes. “... Right. Let you in after you called…” He mumbled to himself before covering his mouth as he yawned. “What climbed up your exhaust piston this morning, Jack?”

Jack sat up and slipped out of bed to allow Gabriel, watching the man calmly follow him out right after. With only simple pair of black boxers on, Jack found it rather fascinating to see Gabriel with so few clothing covering his body since he never set foot in the showers. Gabriel’s muscular structure was a marvel to observe up close, especially since it was such a casual thing and the fact that Jack was laying next to him like that only an hour ago.

Remembering that he was still technically in an argument with Gabriel, Jack looked away from the man’s nice body. “Your commlink; Why are you sleeping with it in your ear?” He replied to Gabriel.

Gabriel yawned and stretched his back backward as he flexed his arms behind his head. “Easier to just leave it in with how often I get calls. Most of the time I just forget.” He admitted, releasing his stretch and letting his arms drop down to his sides in a lazy manner. Turning to face Jack in the darkness, Gabriel clapped his hands once to make the lighting in the room slowly brighten up to about fifty percent strength. “Good morning, by the way.” Gabriel smiled.

Jack felt his processors warm pleasantly as he quickly backed up the moment in his blackbox and hard drives. That smile had Jack absolutely beaming at how remarkable of a person Gabriel was to both him. Love was definitely something Jack was feeling right now, in his own way. No other person has captured Jack’s attention so thoroughly and been more deserving of his respect.

“Good morning, Gabe.” Jack warmly returned the greeting, stepping forward and gently opening his arms.

Gabriel happily accepted the invitation and stepped forward to receive Jack’s embrace. Both of them holding each other and enjoying the other’s presence for a very long, and quiet moment before parting. The commander then gave Jack an appreciative smile before turning to head over to his small dresser and card through them for clothing. Jack took the time to head over to Gabriel’s couch and take a seat as he politely let the man have his privacy making a clothing selection.

Seeing this as an opportunity to learn more about Gabriel, Jack decided to continue where their conversation left off. “So, why do you forget that you have your commlink in? Isn’t it uncomfortable to wear the device all day long?” He asked curiously, trying not to sound combative or nagging.

“Well, being the operations commander, I have to deal with many people wanting input and updates on various plans at various stages. Those people live in different timezones and usually call when it’s convenient for them unless I’m an active operation.” He remarked simply as he tucked a t-shirt under his arm and pulling out the bottom most drawer by hooking his foot under the handle.

Jack was absolutely baffled by that. “When do you have time to sleep?”

Gabriel chuckled as he pulled out a pair of pants and pushed the draw shut with his foot once more, moving on to the upper most ones. “Everything non-emergency goes right to voicemail from one to five in the morning.” He answered simply, pulling out new boxers and socks before using his elbow to close the drawer shut.

“Wait. How did my call manage to get through then?” Jack asked, turning to look over at Gabriel as he walked past the couch to get to the private bathroom the suite came with.

Gabriel paused at the entrance of the bathroom and turned to give Jack the warmest of all smiles he directly received from the man to this date. “Because your calls are never not worth my time.” He admitted. “Probably helps that it’s so rare for you to call that I honestly never have a reason to ignore it.” Gabriel sheepishly added to his confession. “You’re one of the few who actually get that I like, and respond faster, to emails and texts.” 

Particularly touched by that, Jack felt two sets of pistons pop out from his shoulder to let a long stream of hot air out. “I… Oh…” He found himself utterly speechless.

Gabriel mercifully allowed him peace as he went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Jack grumbled quietly in embarrassment as he let his face fall into his hands. Why was he such a sweet and infuriating man?! Letting himself just vent out everything through his shoulder pistons, and listen to the muffled sounds of the shower as the man inside got ready for a new day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that I took forever to update this fic. I love these two very, very much but had mad writer's block on how to execute the next chapter for forever.
> 
> If you are still intrigued enough to read the story (which I shall still continue for a few more chapters) please leave a review and tell me your thoughts.
> 
> It would really make my day to hear from you guys since I've felt like I'm in a low spot when it comes to writing this year.

**Author's Note:**

> please leave me with your thoughts on this idea and my execution on it! Do you think it sounds interesting?


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